Ever since it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk for $44 billion in October 2022, X, formerly Twitter, has been losing users and advertising revenue, and that hasn't changed in 2024.
Although the social media platform plans to fuel its growth by using artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen search and advertisements and streamline overall customer experience, user engagement continues to fall, showing that X is facing another challenging year.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, the user engagement rate on X dropped by almost 40% year-over-year, following a considerable decline in 2023.
Impressions and Replies Grow, but Likes, Mentions, and Reposts All See a Double-Digit Drop
Even before Musk's acquisition, Twitter faced challenges competing with larger social media giants like Meta and Instagram. But things got much worse after the controversial billionaire took over the social media platform in late 2022.
The changes in content moderation, the platform's overall direction, and the volatile environment resulting from Musk's questionable leadership style have significantly impacted its traffic and driven away advertisers. The negative trend hasn't changed this year, raising serious concerns about the platform's future.
According to Sensor Tower data, the use of Twitter in its biggest market, the United States, has slumped by more than a fifth since Elon Musk bought the site and rebranded it to X, and the numbers were nearly as bad worldwide. But besides losing users, X continues to face a substantial engagement rate drop from its existing user base.
According to Metricol's 2024 Social Media Networks Study, likes, mentions, and reposts on X have all seen a double-digit drop in 2024. For instance, posts on X generated an average of 31.46 likes in 2024, or 16% less than last year. Statistics show reposts declined even more, falling by 23% year-over-year to an average of 8.47. However, social media mentions have taken the worst dip, plunging by a massive 61% to only 1.56 in 2024.
On the other hand, impressions and replies on X posts have increased. Statistics show that X posts generated an average of 2,121 impressions this year, or 98% more than in 2023, while the average number of post replies more than doubled, but it still stands at a modest 3.4.
The Average Number of Weekly Posts Plunged by 38% to Only 3.5
Besides engaging on the platform much less than last year, X users are posting less than ever. According to Metricool data, accounts on X posted an average of 3.55 times per week this year, or 38% less compared to 5.73 times reported in 2023.
The ongoing user exodus and a further reduction in user engagement show that X's popularity in the social media space has shrunk even more in 2024.
This issue, combined with a plunge in advertising revenue, increased competition from platforms like Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, and other alternatives, and technical glitches and instability that have become common on the platform, prove the challenges X has been facing under Musk's ownership have snowballed over the past two years.
