• by Colin Kirkland , July 18, 2024

As X owner Elon Musk continues to post about record high engagement on his social media hub, a new report by data intelligence platform Tracer shows “significant drops” in user engagement and “drastic drops” in advertising unlike competitors like YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.

In June, X advertising saw drops month-over-month and year-over-year, the report shows, with click-through-rates (CTRs) declining 78% month-over-month, which the report suggests reflects a sharp downturn in user activity. In addition, cost-per-thousand (CPMs) decreased 17% from May to June, suggesting that advertisers are also leaving X.

When considering these numbers, it becomes clearer that Musk's personal reportage of X user engagement measurements are misleading.

Two days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Musk posted that X saw a cumulative “417 billion user-seconds globally” in one day -- equating to 27.8 minutes per users -- at 250 million daily active users, which does not align with X's user reportage in March, when the company said users were spending 30 minutes per day with the app on average.

The company also claimed 8 billion total minutes in March, but 417 billion seconds only equates to 6.95 billion minutes, which either negates the “record high engagement” now or invalidates the previous numbers.

On July 15, Musk also posted that in the U.S., user seconds reached 93 billion -- “23% higher than the previous record of 76B.” This equates to 15.5 minutes per user, on average, based on X's previous reportage of 100 million U.S. users -- a figure that is lower than expected. Without full usage figures including users, X is making it difficult for advertisers to understand the reach of their ads.

However, X's numbers do align with Tracer’s report, in that overall, the platform is reaching fewer people.

Comparatively, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube have seen dramatic user engagement increases recently. Instagram’s CTRs surged by 89% over the past year, while YouTube and Pinterest saw increases of 77% and 385%, respectively. The success these platforms are seeing is likely a direct result of the introduction of new video-first launches, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and a host of new features on Pinterest.

The report suggests the changes these three companies are making are intended to increase user interaction in attempts to entice advertisers amidst the potential U.S. selloff and/or ban of TikTok.

In the wake of TikTok's uncertain future, it actually saw the largest year-over-year increase in CPMs at 16%, showcasing high advertiser competition. In addition, CTRs on the ByteDance-owned social media app surged by 22%, highlighting steadfast user engagement.

As for LinkedIn, the B2B social platform is becoming more expensive for advertisers, with CPMs increasing by 26% between May and June, along with a 16% decrease in CTR, resulting in a 50% increase in cost-per-clicks (CPCs) over the past month, the report states.