Since Elon Musk took office, the number of people using Twitter in the US has dropped by almost 9%. Recent researchIn October 2022, just before Musk took ownership, 32.4% of Americans used Twitter, according to a study. In December and he in January, that figure he dropped to 29.5%.
A survey was conducted among approximately 25,000 Americans. COVID State Projectis a collaborative research initiative by Northeastern University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, and Northwestern University that publishes reports on epidemiology, polls, and social sciences.
The decline in user numbers is largely due to Democrats, who quit Twitter at a higher rate than independents and Republicans. In October, his 38% of Democrats used Twitter, but in January he was down to 32.9%. The study found that the change between Republicans and independents was not statistically significant.
David Lazer, a professor of political science and computer science at Northeastern University and part of the consortium of academics who organized the study, told BuzzFeed News that he was surprised by the findings. “I expected Democrats to quit Twitter because Musk said something so partisan,” he said. “The fact that it failed to keep up with the rise of the Republican Party is remarkable.”
Musk describes himself as independent, but tweets that he aligns with the right wing ( conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi) interacted with far-right accounts such as Libs of TikTok, restored accounts of prominent far-right figures such as Andrew Anglin and Laura Loomer, and lamented the existence of the “awakening virus.”
Lazer told BuzzFeed News that the poll was biased toward those with social media accounts because the poll itself was conducted online. (pew researchFor example, only about 23% of people in the US say they use Twitter. )
The research also examined the credibility of both Twitter and Musk, as well as the platforms’ perceived biases. Unsurprisingly, self-proclaimed Democrats didn’t have much faith in Mr. Musk. 48% said they don’t trust him to do the right thing “at all” and another 28% said they don’t trust him “too much.”
