As we approach the one-year anniversary of Elon Musk taking over Twitter (now X), it’s essential to examine how the social media platform has fared under its new management. To this end, X has published a retrospective blog post highlighting various metrics and statistics showcasing its growth and engagement.
Growth and Engagement: A Mixed Picture
The blog post proudly boasts that an average user spends 32 minutes on the platform. However, this figure is slightly lower than what was reported by Musk last year, which claimed 8 billion active minutes per day. Moreover, the figure of 1.5 million sign-ups per day is also lower than Musk’s earlier claim of 2 million per day.
Premium Users and Engagement
X notes that premium users spend three times longer on the platform compared to non-paying users. This isn’t surprising given X’s strategy of incentivizing eligible premium users with a payout. The company claims to have paid $20 million to creators last month, which is unchanged from its previous figure.
Analytics Companies and Their Reporting
Apptopia has reported that users who use both Threads and X spent an average of 23.8 minutes per day on the former when Meta launched it. However, this figure has since decreased to 3.7 minutes per day. The firm also notes that U.S.-based X users were spending 20.6 minutes per day on average in September.
Monthly Active Users and Daily Active Users
Yaccarino mentions that half a billion of the world’s most informed and influential people are coming to the platform every month. This figure is consistent with Musk’s earlier claim of 550 million monthly active users. However, Yaccarino recently mentioned that X has around 245 million daily active users.
According to Sensor Tower (via The Wall Street Journal), X’s daily active users in September 2023 have fallen by 16% as compared to October 2022.
X’s API Access and Its Impact
X boasts about providing free API access to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York and the National Weather Service. However, this move only came about when these accounts decided to either limit or end their update stream after X discontinued its free API.
The company also famously killed third-party Twitter apps by changing its API terms earlier this year. This decision has been met with criticism from developers who rely on the platform for their livelihood.
Advertisers and Revenue
While X claims that advertisers are returning to the platform, Reuters reported earlier this month that ad revenue earned by X is on the decline.
Future Plans and Safety Efforts
The company talks about its future plans, including facilitating payments. However, it fails to expand much on its work in the Trust and Safety area. Regulators around the world are not happy with X’s efforts around battling CSAM (child sexual abuse material) and misinformation.
The blog post also crucially doesn’t mention how the platform plans to work on election integrity given both the U.S. and India have major elections coming up next year.
Conclusion
X’s one-year anniversary retrospective highlights a mixed picture of growth and engagement under Musk’s management. While the company boasts about its metrics, various analytics companies report a decline in user engagement. The platform’s efforts to improve safety and address regulatory concerns are also questionable.
As we move forward into X’s second year under Musk’s leadership, it remains to be seen whether the social media giant can regain its momentum and live up to its promises.
Key Takeaways
- An average user spends 32 minutes on X.
- The figure of 1.5 million sign-ups per day is lower than Musk’s earlier claim of 2 million per day.
- Premium users spend three times longer on the platform compared to non-paying users.
- Apptopia reports a decline in user engagement with both Threads and X.
- X has around 245 million daily active users, according to Yaccarino.
- Sensor Tower notes a 16% decrease in daily active users from October 2022 to September 2023.
