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Over 115,000 users leave X after US presidential election

After the 2024 United States Presidential election that confirmed Donald Trump’s victory, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) witnessed its largest user exodus since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022

Over 115,000 users leave X after US presidential election

Elon Musk (file photo)

After the 2024 United States Presidential election that confirmed Donald Trump’s victory, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) witnessed its largest user exodus since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022, with users migrating to alternatives like Bluesky, CNN reported.
More than 115,000 US users deactivated their X accounts the day after the election, and this figure only includes those who deactivated through the website, excluding mobile app users, CNN reported citing a report of digital intelligence platform Similarweb.
This shift follows Musk’s influential role in the US presidential election. Bluesky’s user base has doubled in 90 days, reaching 15 million after gaining 1 million new sign-ups in a single week.

According to CNN, Musk spent months using X to support President-elect Donald Trump.
Researchers report increased use of sexist language on X, such as “your body, my choice.”
Additionally, Musk’s previous changes — cutting moderators, restoring banned accounts, allowing racist and Nazi accounts, and altering the verification system to boost anyone who was willing to pay regardless of what they posted — all of which helped to tank the company’s core ad business.

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Notably, prominent journalists Charlie Warzel, the New York Times’ Mara Gay, and former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced their exit from X this week, joining Bluesky.
British news publisher The Guardian announced on Wednesday that it is quitting X, citing concerns over Musk’s influence during the US election process.
In a statement on Wednesday, The Guardian said it will no longer post from any official Guardian accounts on the site.

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Further, it said that the recent US election underlined its view that X is a “toxic” platform and that Musk uses it to influence politics.
Musk who campaigned actively for US President-elect Donald Trump has been named as one of two heads of a new “department of government efficiency.”
In its message to its readers, The Guardian said, “We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere.

“The publication said that its journalists will continue to use X as a news-gathering source. X, it said, “now plays a “diminished role in promoting our work.”
“We will stop posting from our official editorial accounts on the platform, but X users can still share our articles, it said.

“The nature of live news reporting means we will still occasionally embed content from X within our article pages” it said adding that X users will still be able to share its articles.
The Guardian has more than 80 accounts on X with approximately 27 million followers.

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