But the transformation of a #platform once obsessed over by #politicians, #journalists & #news junkies has fueled agitation among #Democrats over lost opportunities for messaging during an #election year that has been bitterly fought over online. A Pew Research Center survey in March found that, of the people who post about political issues on #X, #Republicans were much more likely to say their “views are welcome there.”
It’s *almost* impossible to say whether #X is explicitly suppressing #Democrats, as some #liberals have speculated: The Post’s analysis turned up no direct evidence of manipulation. The shift in attention could reflect changing attitudes among #users who have stuck around, given that many left-wing users have said they left the platform of their own accord, annoyed by #Musk’s antics & X’s redrawn rules.
But the viewers that have stayed on #X now largely see posts that skew toward the political bent of #ElonMusk himself, an avid booster of #Trump who has *jumped* onstage w/him at rallies, donated $118M toward his bid for a 2nd term & launched a [highly illegal] daily $1M giveaway for registered voters in swing states. #Musk, the world’s richest man, *paid* $44B [not really, he used #Tesla #stock as virtual #cash] to buy X & has since become its biggest user….
#X has seen a dramatic exodus of users since #Musk took over in 2022, acc/to independent analysts such as Edison Research, which said in March that X’s usage in the #UnitedStates had dropped 30% [not enough] since last year. The investment firm Fidelity this month estimated that X’s value has plunged by about 80% [that’s more like it] since Musk’s takeover.
Politicians…have struggled to win the attention they once enjoyed on the platform once known as #Twitter, a review of months of data for the 100 top-tweeting congressional accounts, including senators, reps & cmtes, equal parts #Democrat & #Republican.
…Tweets…still going viral—[are] virtually all…from #Republicans. The Republicans have also seen huge spikes in follower counts over the Democrats, & their tweets have collectively received billions more views.
