Elon Musk claims that Twitter is seeing some of its highest user engagement in months.
Key Details
- Elon Musk Tweeted a chart claiming that daily active users (DAUs) have increased from 243 million people in July to nearly 246 million now.
- He tweeted on Monday that the “recent trend is promising.”
- This goes against reports from before his purchase that suggested that “heavy users,” 10% of the service’s users that create 90% of its content, were in decline and that Twitter was dying, according to Reuters.
- Musk purchased the social network on October 28 and has been attempting to rebuild the company to be more efficient and free speech-friendly, but the ensuing chaos has left his $44 billion investment in doubt.
Why it’s News
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been met with chaos and negative reactions from users and advertisers. A rival app called Mastodon saw more than 600,000 new users in the two weeks after Musk purchased Twitter. The mass exodus of alienated users may not be affecting Twitter’s DAU though if it is drawing new users.
As we previously reported, advertisers have also largely backed away from the service, leaving it to a revenue crisis that may bankrupt the service.
Musk has only owned the company for three weeks and his management style has made the company’s operations chaotic and unstable. With the company facing numerous legal challenges and other tech companies like Amazon and Meta laying off thousands of employees, he may not be the only social media platform awaiting a rough 2023.
He does remain committed to making Twitter into a new platform, having sold 19.5 million shares of his Tesla stock worth $3.95 billion to help finance the company and keep it afloat.
Notable Quote
“‘Is Twitter dying?’ billionaire Elon Musk mused in April, five days before offering to buy the social media platform. The reality, according to internal Twitter research seen by Reuters, goes far beyond the handful of examples of celebrities ghosting their own accounts. Twitter is struggling to keep its most active users—who are vital to the business—engaged,” says Reuters.