2022 has been a tough year for all social media companies like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat. Since Elon Musk‘s buyout in October, Twitter is going through a transition phase. The company has already lost some of its top-tier c-executives and other employees, as well as top advertisers. However, things will start to get worse as the micro-blogging platform is expected to lose more than 30 million users in the next two years. According to eMarketer, the number of global Twitter users will reach 368.4 million by the end of 2022, with a meagre 1.7% YoY growth.
It is important to note that the year 2023 will mark the beginning of a yearly decline in the number of Twitter users worldwide. Insider Intelligence predicted a notable 3.9% YoY decline in Twitter’s monthly active user base in 2023. The platform will have 353.9 million MAUs by the end of next year.
Surprisingly, this decline percentage is expected to increase further in 2024. The number of Twitter users worldwide will fall 5.1% YoY to just 335.7 million by the end of 2024.
If we do the math, approximately 32.7 million people will leave Twitter platform in the next two years.
Should Elon Musk be worried?
Elon Musk and Team is, surprisingly, showing no worrying sign as of now. In fact, the CEO tweeted last week that the company will soon start removing as many as 1.5 billion accounts from the platform. These are inactive Twitter accounts with no tweets & no log in for years.
Additionally, the recent launch of Twitter Blue subscription is now being touted as a well-thought-out strategy of Elon Musk to gain trust among the real active users on the platform, while weeding out fake influencers.
US will be the most affected country
Twitter’s homegrown country, the United States, accounts for the majority of global user base and revenues. The social media giant is expected to lose more users in the US than in any other country. By the end of 2023, approximately 3.6 million US users will stop using Twitter, representing a 6.3% YoY decline. The number of Twitter US monthly users will further decline to a notable 8.3% in 2024, to 50.5 million.
Insider Intelligence also highlights the age group of Twitter users in the United States who are expected to abandon the platform within the next two years.
Although the platform will lose users of all ages in the United States, the under-25 and over-45 age groups will suffer the most. These groups of people are typically less loyal and less tolerant of any degrading experience or humiliating situation.
In contrast, the drop in Twitter US users, aged between 25-34 and 35-44, will be less severe, as the majority of these people are more dedicated daily active users who use social media platforms for their work and to make connections.
The number of Twitter users in the UK is expected to decline a 5.1% YoY in 2023, to 13.4 million. This figure will further decline in 2024, reaching its lowest level since 2018. The UK will have only 12.6 million monthly Twitter users by the end of 2024, a 6.3% decrease year on year.
According to Jasmine Enberg, the principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, many existing Twitter users will soon stop using the platform due to the increasing technical issues and the widespread availability of hateful or other objectionable content.
The future of Twitter, however, remains uncertain as Elon Musk is known for his unpredictable nature. He has the ability to turn the tide 360 degrees.
Twitter app installs after Elon Musk’s acquisition
In November 2022, Sensor Tower reported that after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the platform had seen 7.6 million worldwide installs in the 12 days from Oct. 27 through Nov. 7. Interestingly, this was 21% increase in the global Twitter installs, compared to 6.3 million installs from Oct. 15 to Oct. 26. While Twitter US reported an impressive 31% increase in app installs, from 916,000 to 1.2 million during the same period.
