Buzzfeed News, January 2023
The number of people using Twitter in the US has decreased almost 9% since Elon Musk took over, according to a recent study. In October 2022, just before Musk took ownership, the study found, 32.4% of Americans were using Twitter. In December and January, that figure had dropped to 29.5%.
The survey of nearly 25,000 Americans was conducted by the COVID States Project, a joint research initiative by Northeastern University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, and Northwestern University that publishes reports on epidemiology, public opinion polling, and social science.
The drop in users was mostly from Democrats, who quit Twitter at higher rates than independents or Republicans. Thirty-eight percent of those identifying as Democrats used Twitter in October, but that had dropped to 32.9% by January. The change in Republicans and independent users was statistically insignificant, the study found.
