X, the self-proclaimed social media platform of free speech, has been going downhill for a while now. While it wasn’t particularly friendly even before Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired it, the platform—formerly known as Twitter—has seen significant backlash since Musk’s takeover. Hoaxes, misinformation, hate content, a lack of moderation, an algorithm that amplifies controversy, and bots (which were supposed to be curbed by paid verification) are common on the platform, and it’s taking a toll.
What’s happening? Users are leaving the platform. Major media outlets, such as The Guardian, have announced they will no longer actively publish on X. According to the media outlet, “X is a toxic media platform.”
At the same time, X claims record-breaking use, reportedly seeing 942 million posts during the last U.S. election. Musk also stated in May that X has over 600 million monthly active users, with half logging in daily, although this data can’t be verified. It’s an interesting contradiction: Users are abandoning the platform and alternatives are growing, all the while X keeps on reporting high engagement.
The reasons. X has made controversial choices, including disabling the blocking feature and favoring an algorithm that promotes questionable content. Beyond memes and viral videos meant to drive Twitter Premium revenue, the algorithm seems unbothered by hate content, racism, conspiracy theories, cryptocurrency scams, and AI-generated material. The user experience has shifted considerably.
The alternatives are growing. As X and its owner continue making contentious changes, alternative platforms are gaining users. Bluesky, for instance, has seen notable growth. Factors such as the temporary shutdown of X in Brazil, the opening of Bluesky’s registration, changes to X’s blocking function, and Musk’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump have led to an increase in Bluesky’s user base. The platform now reports more than 15 million registered users—far below Musk’s claimed 600 million for X, but a substantial increase from recent months.
Bluesky statistics. A good metric is the number of “unique posters.” That is, accounts that publish daily. The change over the past two years is also notable. Image | Xataka On
And then there’s Threads. Its statistics aren’t public, but the platform attracted 100 million users within days of its launch. Today, the number of registered users exceeds 275 million. According to The Information, Meta is preparing to monetize Threads through advertising, a move that seemed inevitable.
Mastodon statistics. You can see the growth over the last two years, but also the stagnation. Image | Xataka On
Mastodon, in contrast, saw two major growth spurts: one after Musk’s acquisition of X and another during a downturn in summer 2023. Mastodon currently has about 9 million registered users and around 1 million active users, with growth remaining flat. While Mastodon’s user base is steady, its numbers aren’t climbing.
Fragmentation and protocol challenges. One key advantage X offers is that all users remain on a single platform: X. Finding and connecting with friends is straightforward. But now, users are spread across Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, creating a more fragmented experience. Adding to this complexity, Threads and Mastodon use the fediverse and the ActivityPub protocol, while Bluesky operates on the AT protocol.
These protocols differ, and Bluesky isn’t compatible with Threads and Mastodon. Third-party tools exist to connect Bluesky with other networks, but they remain unofficial solutions.
Even so, this fragmentation hints at a future with platforms featuring different names, functions, and capabilities, all linked by open protocols to create a cohesive digital public square. Moderation across these networks will be a challenge, but competing with X and Musk, the world’s richest person, was never expected to be easy.
Image | ROBIN WORRALL (Unsplash)
View 0 comments