The initial cause for the distress that Twitter had was whether Meta’s Threads would strike Twitter out with their immediate rise to fame. As time passed, it was revealed that the real problem behind the potential demise of Twitter was Elon Musk and his rebranding of the platform as ‘X’. While on most fronts, contenders in the realm of technology had won by proving their prowess (for instance Microsoft), Musk and his acquisition seem to have taken more than a couple of blows. In the latest turn of events, reports state that the Brits are severing ties with X; what was once a beloved for them, at an alarming rate.
A comprehensive report on internet usage in the UK revealed shifts in audience numbers for major platforms. X experienced a notable decline, losing 2.9 million in its total adult audience over the past year. Facebook and Messenger also saw a drop of 1.4 million, while Pinterest decreased by 1.5 million. In contrast, TikTok observed a significant year-on-year increase of 4.6 million in its adult audience. When considering the average daily audience in a month, X decreased by 0.8 million year on year. Facebook and Messenger experienced a more substantial drop of 2.6 million. In terms of average time spent per day by an adult visitor, Facebook and Messenger saw a decline from 32 minutes in May 2022 to 23 minutes in May 2023, while X increased its time from 6 minutes to 10 minutes. Additionally, Microsoft’s Bing added 8 million to its reach, reaching 21.9 million in total, but it still trailed behind Google, which had a reach of 41.3 million, covering 86% of the online adult population. The numbers indicate that people are swaying away from X, Facebook, and Messenger and giving chances to other options.
The beginning of the end
Ever since Musk made his mark on Twitter, it has been a struggle. Accompanying his arrival was the rebranding of the social media platform to X. As mentioned in The Telegraph, following these changes, it witnessed a decline in its total adult monthly audience, dropping from 26.8 million in May 2022 to 24 million in May 2023, according to data from media regulator Ofcom. Ipsos iris data also indicates a decrease in Twitter’s popularity among British users, with its reach falling from 61% of adults in 2021 to 50% in 2023. This downward trend has reportedly intensified following Elon Musk’s controversial $44 billion takeover of the platform a little over a year ago. Musk’s changes in policy, reduction in workforce, and actions perceived as endorsing anti-Semitism have led to a decline in the platform’s perceived quality, triggering criticism from users, The White House, and contributing to an advertising boycott by governments and major brands like Apple and Disney.
Twitter’s fall from grace did not happen overnight. In fact, it had been in turmoil ever since Musk made his appearance. The Tesla owner had his eyes on Twitter for a considerably long time. He was such an avid fan of it that he made his moves and tried to dig his claws into it by making a $44 billion bid for the company. However, almost immediately, Musk attempted to make his way out of the Twitter acquisition deal when tech stocks faced a downturn in 2022. All this back and forth ended with Musk closing in on the deal and acquiring Twitter on 27 October 2022. This was after Twitter sued him. Once the deal was seen through to its end, Musk wasted no time in terminating the senior executive team, leading to noticeable changes in the company. In the year since the acquisition, Musk has overseen an 80% reduction in headcount, rebranded the company as ‘X’, made alterations to Twitter’s blue check mark system, now granting a verified status to X Premium subscribers, and initiated a test to charge users $1 per year for posting to the platform—a move he claimed was necessary to combat bots.
Is X’s demise bound to happen?
Musk’s rebranding of Twitter served no purpose. Not only did the act strip the social media platform off of its well-known and concrete identity but according to many branding experts, entirely restructuring a brand that had its own history and legacy was nothing short of suicidal. It was like Musk was knelling Twitter’s bells of his own volition. It is true that Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, covering 425 million users. However, Twitter has lost half of the value Musk paid for it, and it experienced a loss of advertisers and millions of users who migrated to alternative platforms like Mastodon and Threads. Musk’s decisions, particularly the rebranding of the platform as Twitter-X, have left many loyal users confused and uncertain about the platform’s current identity and its future direction.
As explained in Forbes, a user who would have previously spent more time on Twitter, has reduced their engagement with the platform since Musk’s acquisition. This decrease is attributed in part to Musk’s decisions to allow banned individuals back on Twitter. Additionally, a significant portion of the staff responsible for screening inappropriate tweets has been either terminated or reassigned to other roles within the company.
Musk’s plans with regard to Twitter remain ambiguous to date. The confusion arises from the fact that the man pulling the strings is Musk. A successful entrepreneur who runs leading brands such as Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink. But at the same time, the way that he is moving forward with Twitter-X always appears as if he is hammering down the last nail in the coffin. Especially because the platform is fraught with issues.
Primarily, Musk has lost the trust of millions. This is because of his ludicrous tweets and decisions surrounding the platform. An uncountable number of users, including several celebrities, have decided to part ways with X, especially because of Musk. Consequently, advertising expenditure on X/Twitter by major ad agencies in the U.S. witnessed a substantial decline of 54% from September 2022 to August 2023, as reported by ad analytics firm Guideline (via WSJ). Despite Elon Musk’s assurance to marketers that he would not transform Twitter into a “free-for-all hellscape”, advertisers have expressed caution due to Musk’s unpredictable decisions. These decisions include reinstating thousands of previously banned accounts, including that of Donald Trump, and Musk’s own unconventional posts that, at times, involve conspiracy theories.
X’s big picture does not look promising. The end game of all its strategies looks like it is digging its own grave. Almost all problems that befell X were self-inflicted wounds, and none of them were caused by external factors. This is why it is difficult to place hope on X’s revival, especially because it has not only fallen out of favour with individual subscribers but also renowned authorities such as the EU.
(Sandunlekha Ekanayake)