KEY FACTS
The data, which is part of a larger study conducted by Edison, said 27% of the total population in the U.S. reported using X in 2022 and 2023, a figure that has decreased to 19% in 2024.
The data is a measure of people who said they were using the service, not a measure of premium X subscribers or accounts, Edison noted.
Edison said the social media platform also experienced declines in monthly and weekly usage, but didn’t provide details about such data.
The 2022 and 2023 usage data was gathered through a national telephone survey of about 1,500 people aged 12 and older—further details and methodology for the 2024 usage data will be released on March 28, according to Edison.
CONTRA
Yaccarino has painted a different picture of traffic on X. She said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January that X had 90 million U.S. users, less than 1% of which she said were ages 13-17. Last year, the chief executive also said that X had 540 million monthly active users and 200 million to 250 million daily active users or “something like that.”
KEY BACKGROUND
Like Yaccarino, Musk has also pushed favorable X traffic data, though the sourcing on some of the data he’s reposted is unclear. The platform has attempted to retain and attract users with new features including revenue share payouts for creators posting on X. Users have reported payouts worth hundreds of dollars, with viral content creators like Jimmy Donaldson, also known as Mr. Beast, reporting payouts as high as $264,000. Yaccarino said in a blog post last October that X had paid out more than $20 million to its creators. Engagement for creators has become a large part of X’s strategy following its fallout with several big-name advertisers last year in which the likes Disney, Apple, Comcast and IBM fled the platform after Musk was embroiled in controversy following his agreement with an antisemitic tweet.