"After Musk's Acquisition, Republican Influence in the US Increases on X... Democrats Decrease"

[US Election 2024]
WP Analysis... "Republican Views and Followers Are High"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, acquired X (formerly Twitter), and since then, the number of followers and posts by U.S. Republican figures on X has surged, while the influence of Democratic figures has declined, according to an analysis.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 29th (local time) that based on data from the nonprofit organization American Civil Liberties Union, an analysis of 50 Republican and 50 Democratic accounts since last July showed these results.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The investigation found that most of the 33 posts viewed over 20 million times since last summer came from Republican users.

The most mentioned posts included a warning by Jim Jordan (Ohio), the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, stating "You are not safe in Democrat-run Philadelphia," and memes related to former President Donald Trump's claim that "Haitian immigrants in Ohio eat cats."

Among the 20 accounts with the largest follower increases during the study period, 17 were Republicans. All 10 accounts that experienced significant follower decreases belonged to Democrats.

Last month, typical posts by Republicans were viewed about 7,900 times on average, while Democratic posts were viewed only 4,100 times.

The White House's X account recently averaged about 100,000 views per post, a significant drop from 200,000 views last summer. The White House is concerned that decreased engagement with the official X account could reduce its ability to reach citizens during crises.

As X gained popularity among conservatives, right-wing political advertising also increased. WP's analysis showed that spending on ads supporting Republican candidates was three times higher than that supporting Democrats.

In March, Edison Research reported that X usage in the U.S. has declined by about 30% since last year.

Shannon McGregor, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina who studies social media platforms, described X as "not a right-wing platform, but a platform led by the right wing." He said, "In the past, politicians from both sides viewed Twitter as a platform for news reporting and gauging public reaction, but it no longer holds that political centrality. It has now become a place for Republicans to send partisan signals."

WP stated, "This is a sign that under CEO Musk, X's influence and usefulness for political discourse are weakening."

CEO Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X. Edison Research reported in March that X usage in the U.S. has decreased by 30% since last year. Fidelity recently reported that X's value has dropped about 80% since Musk's acquisition.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.