Merely days after Tesla founder Elon Musk became the largest shareholder of Twitter, he publicly questioned if the platform is “dying.”
Elon Musk made headlines in early April when he made a massive $3 billion investment in Twitter. The move was seen as a natural fit, as the richest man on Earth regularly spends most of his days posting to the social media platform.
He’s already teased “significant improvements” for Twitter, and even made a public poll asking users if they really want the long-awaited edit button.
Now, just days after his investment became public knowledge, he’s already questioning the value of Twitter.
Musk took a 9% stake in Twitter at the start of April.
Elon wonders if Twitter is “dying”
On April 9, Musk co-tweeted a list of the top ten most followed Twitter accounts with a bizarre question.
Musk said, “Most of these ‘top’ accounts tweet rarely and post very little content. Is Twitter dying?”
Elon, who is eighth on the list, certainly posts enough to carry the weight of a group that includes former President Barack Obama and Justin Bieber. But the question was strange, considering he just poured a ton of cash into the company.
Most of these “top” accounts tweet rarely and post very little content.
Is Twitter dying? https://t.co/lj9rRXfDHE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2022
His post elicited responses from tons of influencers, including Twitch star Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel, who chimed in with his thoughts.
“People use twitter for different reasons. Most influencers use the platform as a tool to propel their brand or whatever they have going on. They aren’t really using twitter. Twitter isn’t dying, big celebs that have nothing going on don’t need to use it as often anymore.”
People use twitter for different reasons. Most influencers use the platform as a tool to propel their brand or whatever they have going on. They aren’t really using twitter. Twitter isn’t dying, big celebs that have nothing going on don’t need to use it as often anymore. 🤖
— xQc (@xQc) April 9, 2022
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal also joined in the conversation and said, “I think most ‘celebs’ don’t see the same numbers as they do from other social media platforms and they measure success in numbers.”
According to Statista, 2021 held the most year-over user growth for Twitter in nearly a decade. Despite Musk’s concerns, it’s unlikely Twitter will die any time soon.