Is X Experiencing a Surge in Web Traffic?

The newest update on key social media trends and developments is "Sociable," brought to you by industry expert Andrew Hutchinson from Social Media Today.

Currently, there is conflicting information circulating about X's usage and its growth (or lack thereof) under Elon Musk.

There are conflicting reports on X usage and app downloads. While some suggest a decrease, others indicate that X is actually gaining popularity. Unlike Twitter, X is not legally obligated to provide usage numbers, leaving us reliant on information from Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino.

Based on their reporting, it's unclear if we have any accurate information on this matter. Muskk recently shared a chart as evidence of X's increasing traffic.

Looks compelling right? Based on this chart, you could be led to believe that X is actually beating Instagram in terms of overall usage.

It is not. In fact, it's not even close.

Instagram has over a billion monthly active users, versus X's 500 million, so in sheer visitors alone, it's very unlikely that X would be matching IG. 

The chart does not clearly indicate what the figures represent. The numbers are based on website traffic data from SEMRush, measuring traffic to x.com versus instagram.com, not counting traffic from the actual apps. About 80% of X's usage comes from the app, compared to about 97% for Instagram. This means that only a small fraction of users access these platforms via the www domain, with the majority of usage happening in the app, which is not accounted for in the chart.

In addition, X's posts are indexed by Google, whereas the majority of IG posts are not. It's no wonder that X is experiencing more website traffic. However, it's concerning that X was ever behind IG in this aspect. It's incorrect to imply that X is experiencing more overall usage than Instagram, which is far from the reality of the situation. This measure has been used in reports indicating that X's traffic has increased.

According to the latest report using Ahrefs data, X has experienced a 22.3% increase in traffic year-over-year. It's important to note that this data is solely based on domain traffic and does not include app usage. Despite being only about a fifth of X's overall usage, web browser traffic has shown an increase, possibly influenced by Musk's posts and related discussions. However, without data on app usage, this insight is not truly indicative of X's overall usage. Domo's "Data Never Sleeps" report also revealed that the total number of X posts per minute has gone up from 347k in 2022 to 360k in 2023, although it's worth considering X's insights on this matter.

In September, Elon claimed that X users were sharing 200 million posts daily in the app. However, a week later, Yaccarino clarified that X is actually seeing 100 million original posts per day.

100 million replies to posts every day

300 million quote posts and reposts

Ultimately, X is reportedly seeing 200 million original posts per day, but according to Domo's numbers, this does not align. Based on Domo's statistic of 360k posts per minute, it would mean that X is actually seeing 518 million posts per day, which is significantly more than X's reported numbers. This discrepancy raises questions about X's usage and whether Domo has additional insight into X's activity.

Another recent claim from Yaccarino, that X is seeing 150 million new sign-ups per day, is also not being reflected in X's own usage numbers.

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With 1.5 million new account sign-ups daily, X should be gaining 45 million new users per month. However, according to its own reports, it has remained at 500 million monthly users since July. This suggests that while there are 45 million additional sign-ups per month, these new users are not remaining active. Therefore, I am hesitant to view this as a positive indicator of X's growth.

Elon Musk has also announced that the platform has achieved multiple new record highs in cumulative user seconds throughout the year. However, various industry experts have criticized this figure. Musk claims that this is the most accurate measure of genuine engagement, but critics argue that it simply indicates that Musk's most devoted fans are spending all their time on the app, and does not reflect a broader usage trend.

There is no concrete evidence to indicate a significant increase in overall usage of X. However, it is crucial to consider its relevance in your own strategic planning. The number of people using X is not as important as whether your target audience is actively engaged. Whether X is under Musk's leadership may be less significant to your individual marketing plans.

However, the sustainability of the platform is important and could impact the future of Musk's X project. The fact that the user numbers are not rapidly declining suggests that X is still performing adequately. Nonetheless, the actual state of X's performance based on current data remains uncertain.