Following its acquisition from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year, X noticed a shift in its usership. According to research from Pew Research Center, six in ten US adults who had used the app in the past year had taken a break from the app. The same study found that the most active users’ posts per month dropped a quarter following the takeover. 

Now it has been revealed that more than half of the scientific researchers who used X have curtailed their activity or abandoned the app altogether. The revelation comes from a survey of 9,200 researchers conducted by Nature, where 47% admitted their usage of the app has decreased, while 7% had quit it completely. 

Many of the surveyed researchers who had reduced or stopped their activities on the app cited Musk’s management of the platform as their main reason. Since Musk’s takeover, the surveyed scientists say they noticed an uptick in fake accounts, trolls, and hate speech on the app. 

Many users now also feel overshadowed on the platform since it introduced its paid verification model, which prioritises those accounts over others. This, according to the surveyed researchers, eroded the scientific community’s ability to address misinformation and offer counter arguments to challenging topics 

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The report from Nature also pointed out that X was a platform which gave voice to often under-represented groups in the scientific community. Serving as an organising point for women and people of colour to speak about issues regarding harassment or unequal pay. Since the platform was used by many journalists, it proved to be a useful point to discuss these topics. 

Now, many of the surveyed scientists have moved to new websites, 47% reported using Mastodon, followed by LinkedIn (35%) and Instagram (27%).

Despite the significant loss of many scientists, X is still touting record users. Just last month, Musk shared that the platform reached a new high in monthly users at 540 million.

𝕏 monthly users reach new high in 2023 pic.twitter.com/trqLGBEvvA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2023