Pew Research has shared some new insights into Twitter engagement before and after Elon Musk’s rapid takeover, which shows that more users are taking breaks from Tweeting and that about a quarter of the remaining active Twitter users don’t expect to be using the app at all in 12 months.
Tweeting Off
Let’s start by first looking at usage of Tweet stats – based on Pew’s study, 60% of US Twitter users have taken a break from the app in the last year, while many of the most active Tweeters have reduced their in-app activity following Musk’s acquisition.
To note, female and Black Twitter users are the most likely to have taken a break from the app over the past 12 months, while Democrat voters are also more likely to have reduced their Twitter usage. Where once Twitter was essentially a political rat’s nest of influence-swaying Tweets, now it lies as a soon-to-be-barren wasteland, devoid of even the most obscure of comments.
Many of Twitter’s most prominent users have also assessed their supposed ‘enthusiasm’ for the app:
“The most active users before Musk’s acquisition – defined as the top 20% by tweet volume – have seen a noticeable posting decline in the months after. These users’ average number of tweets per month declined by around 25% following the acquisition. Despite this, eight in ten of the most active adult Twitter users between Jan. 1 and April 14, 2022, have remained among the most active users in the months after Musk formally acquired the site in October 2022.”
So, it seems that while the majority of Twitter users are still Tweeting, to an extent, a marked decline has been sighted among various user groups, which also leads to this point:
“The survey also asked current and recent Twitter users how likely they are to use the platform a year from now. A plurality (40%) say they are extremely or very likely to use the site in a year, and 35% say they are somewhat likely to use it. But a quarter say they are not very or not at all likely to be on Twitter a year from now.”
Whether that means that people expect an alternative to arise, or they just don’t see themselves saying, neither are good signs for Twitter’s growth plans. Should that be the case, then there goes its goal to reignite advertiser activity and interest down the drain. It’s still too early to tell, and with a new CEO incoming, things could change significantly, especially if Twitter can become a bigger video platform. To add, Pew’s data also shows that the vast majority of Tweets still come from only a small portion of Twitter users.
Musk certainly seems to like being the center of attention, and maybe, this was his goal all along – to become a more central character in modern pop culture by getting more people to see and engage with his missives. There are some interesting notes on the latest Twitter usage trends, and how users view the changes implemented by Musk and Co. for the first 6 months that they’ve run the show. It’ll be interesting to see if the sentiment changes under a new CEO.
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