Exploring the Record-High Monthly Active Usage of X

X or former Twitter may have just reached a new user high with owner Elon Musk sharing the chart of the app’s monthly users.

Yeah, there is limited detail, as Musk has intentionally left off the X-axis (ironic). But according to Elon, at least X is thriving.

Despite rising competition and reports of a broader user exodus, Musk continues to re-shape the platform formerly known as Twitter into his vision for an ‘everything app.’

Now, it includes a full re-brand, with all the ‘Twitter’ and bird references steadily removed from the platform.

The latest on this front is that the X icon now appears for some mobile users. It is a significant step in reforming the app and the realignment towards Elon’s new offering.

You might like it or not. X is coming, and most reportage has suggested that interest in the app is taking a hit.

On the contrary, the data of Musk suggests that this is not the case, with more people seemingly logging in to check out the latest updates.

At the same time, Elon is developing a clear pattern for how he responds to negative news cycles about the app.

In November, after his initial takeover of Twitter, several analysts questioned how cutting 80% of the company’s staff would impact usage.

Musk responded by declaring that user numbers have increased significantly worldwide since the deal was announced.

Shortly after this development, Elon told then-Twitter staff that the company would slide into bankruptcy due to the state of its overall performance.

It triggered another flood of negative reports about the app. New user sign-ups reached an all-time high as a part of another round of positive usage indicators shared by Elon and Co.

The same pattern was evident again earlier this month, following the launch of Meta’s Twitter clone app Threads.

During the early hype of 100 million people signing up within days of the launch, Musk shared his thoughts on the newly formed X similarly.

He said that cumulative user seconds per day of phone screen time, as reported by iOS & Android, is the hardest to game. He further says that we may hit a record this week.

And now, with the platform amid a sudden re-brand, Threads is reportedly seeing more engagement. As a result, Threads is also adding a ‘Following’ feed this week.

Musk has again come out with some new record-high usage figures; it is just a means to reassure advertisers that his app is doing fine, despite what appears to be harmful shifts.

But people need to trust the numbers coming out of X HQ. As you should recall, in July last year, Elon sought to wrestle out of his $44 billion offer for the app.

The legal team of Musk argued that Twitter was only worth some of that money due to the high amount of bot profiles it had included in its active user figures.

The previous Twitter management had long specified that the number of fake profiles in the app would be at most 5% of its total mDAU count. It was based on its sampling.

But Musk claimed it was much higher than this, with his analysis showing that up to 33% of then-active Twitter profiles were fake.

Elon eventually settled on being a more modest 20% of Twitter’s total user count while noting that it was likely much higher.

But even at 20%, that would mean that, at the time, 50 million Twitter users were bots, according to Musk and his team.

After taking over the app, Elon still needs to remember these findings. Twitter has since then added 15 million more daily activities to its total mDAU count.

With Musk reporting that the app now has 252 million mDAU, It is on top of his new team removing bots and combating spam.

Based on Elon’s math, if he’s removed all the bot’s 50 million profiles and added 15 million new users, it would mean that Twitter or X has added 65 million new and real human users in less than a year.

It is an astronomically high growth figure for an app that has struggled to build its audience over time.

It is possible but very unlikely. The jump to 540 million monthly users is a big leap from the 368 million MAU that Twitter reported to have last year.

When you also add to this the reports that Elon oversaw a program designed to mislead Tesla drivers about battery range.

At that time, Musk’s Tesla had repeatedly over-promised the availability of self-driving cars and proposed his Hyper-loop project to delay a potential high-speed rail project and sell more cars.

It is among other campaigns of misinformation. It is hard to trust the data Musk posts from his X account fully.

It may be true; X has seen dramatic and frankly unbelievable growth in the face of rising challenges. But as you can tell, most users, clients, and advertisers are sceptical about it.

How you feel about the same depends on your interpretations of Musk and his actions.

But essentially, X might be growing very strongly, despite repeated proclamations of its death. That could influence your usage of the app.

You can click here to learn more about Elon Musk’s X and developments on other social media platforms.