Elon Musk's X loses users; Threads, Bluesky gain

Elon Musk’s social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, has seen a decline in user traffic since the U.S. presidential election in November. This decrease comes even as competitors like Threads and Bluesky gain popularity, according to data from Similarweb. X's daily web visits dropped by 8.4% to about 31.7 million from November to late March. The number of daily app users on X also fell by 7.2% to 25 million during the same period. Despite this decline, X still has a higher level of user engagement than Bluesky. In contrast, Threads, owned by Meta, has experienced the largest growth, with a 14.9% increase in daily app users to 13.6 million. However, its daily web visits remain low, often reaching just over 1 million. Bluesky has also seen growth, with a 21.5% increase in web visits to 2.3 million and app users up by 2.3% to 1.5 million since November. X reached a peak of 46.5 million daily web visits on Election Day but has since fallen to around 30.6 million. Daily active users on the app have declined by 22.1% from Election Day. Musk actively supported Donald Trump during the election, which attracted attention but also criticism for his political involvement and other contentious actions. High-profile users like Mark Hamill and Stephen King have left or reduced their activity on X, often migrating to Bluesky, which is seen as a more moderate alternative. Bluesky was co-founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and has been promoted as a platform that allows users to connect without the challenges some face on X. Threads was introduced in 2023 as a competitor to X, aiming to foster positive conversations and integrate with Facebook and Instagram feeds.