“I see a path for Twitter to surpass 1 billion monthly users within the next 12 to 18 months,” Elon Musk said on November 26, 2022, shortly after acquiring the social media network. Twenty months later, the billionaire lost his bet.
Indeed, the platform, which will be renamed “X” on July 23, 2023, is growing its number of monthly active users — that number now stands at 570 million, up 6% from last year, according to figures released by the company in July — but at the same time, the number of people logging in daily has stagnated at about 250 million, the same as when the platform was acquired.
Musk’s shocking appearance may have attracted new users, but it has also driven away others. At the time of the acquisition, some netizens, outraged by the personality of the Tesla and SpaceX boss, chose to leave the social media network. This happened in the weeks and months that followed, when Musk made one controversial decision after another, such as reducing the moderation team, bringing back Donald Trump, and making the Blue Badge, which until then had guaranteed the account’s credibility, a paid service. Then, on October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel, the atmosphere on X became stifling. Among the defectors were celebrities such as Elton John, Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Trent Reznor.
Mastodon, a small success
Leaving Twitter, but where to go? “Join Mastodon,” one account declared as soon as it was acquired, urging subscribers to follow it on the microblogging service, which was Twitter’s main competitor at the time. At first glance it may look similar to Twitter (messages are limited to 500 characters and have similar features), but its philosophy is different. Launched in 2016, Mastodon is “open source,” meaning that anyone can access its source code. It’s also decentralized, meaning anyone can create their own server, called an “instance,” with their own rules.
Read more Mastodon: How does the “free” alternative to Twitter work?
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has been a huge benefit to Mastodon. Within a month, registered users increased from 3.6 million to 5.4 million, and now sit at 8.7 million. This is great progress, but it must be said that these new subscribers are not necessarily using the social media network. Musk’s upheaval brought Mastodon to over 1 million monthly active users for the first time, but today only 853,000 log on at least once a month. This is double the number in October 2022, but still far short of X’s claimed 570 million monthly active users.
Niche Social Media
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