X average daily users dropped nearly 25% since Musk takeover

Elon Musk’s X has lost nearly one-quarter of its daily active users since he took over the platform in late 2022.

According to new data from Sensor Tower, which tracks the daily active users of various social media apps, X’s daily app users have dropped by 22% in the U.S. and 15% globally since November 2022, when Mr. Musk acquired what was then known as Twitter.

Sensor Tower tracked several other popular social media apps including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. All platforms took significant hits in app users over the last year, but X was hit the hardest. TikTok was the closest, losing around 10% of its daily U.S. app users.

X has repeatedly denied any claims that it is bleeding users, saying that the site continues to have more than 200 million daily active users. 

“No matter what, this platform is where you hear it first,” X posted Monday.

X continues to face roadblocks on its way to becoming the “everything app” of Mr. Musk’s dreams. 

Competition has intensified over the past year. 

On top of decentralized social media platforms like BlueSky and Mastodon, which opened up in 2023, Meta has also entered the text-based social media game. Meta launched its “Twitter killer” threads last year with more than 100 million sign-ups in its first week. The site is evolving rapidly and attracting new active users monthly with new features. 

Financially, X is struggling as well. Fidelity Investments, which holds a stake in the company, recently devalued the company by 71.5% from its original value in November 2022.

The site has also experienced a massive advertiser backlash, leading to a steep decline in revenue. Estimates from the end of 2023 suggest that X lost half of the total revenue it normally brings in from advertisers last year, losing about $2 billion.

Still, Mr. Musk has remained adamant that X will continue to be the dominant social media app. In recent months he has added the Articles feature where users can write longer posts, and has moved towards partnering with sports betting companies to facilitate gambling on X.