Conservative Twitter Users Report Uptick in Followers After Elon Musk Purchased The Platform
By Movieguide® Contributor
Tech billionaire Elon Musk recently made headlines after he purchased Twitter for $44 billion dollars. Even though Musk’s purchase just happened, some conservative Twitter users already reported a change.
The New York Post reported that many conservatives saw a spike in followers after Musk bought the platform.
“Donald Trump Jr. led the way in questioning the giant spike, which saw him gain 87,296 new followers by Tuesday — and another 119,022 by early Wednesday, after weeks of averaging only a few thousand each day,” the Post reported.
Trump Jr. tweeted, “While I’m awesome and totally deserving of 87,000 new followers a day it seems that someone took the shackles off my account. Wonder if they’re burning the evidence before new mgmt comes in?”
While I’m awesome and totally deserving of 87,000 new followers a day it seems that someone took the shackles off my account. Wonder if they’re burning the evidence before new mgmt comes in? pic.twitter.com/9Mso48qyNP
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 26, 2022
Gov. Rob DeSantis also saw his follower count jump by almost 200,000. Tucker Carlson got 150,000 new followers, while Rep. Matt Gaetz picked up more than 60,000.
While the cause of the spike in numbers is still unknown, conservative talk show host Dana Loesch has a theory.
“It’s too soon for Musk to have done this but I’m wondering if something was changed by those seeking to minimize their fingerprint ahead of potential transparency,” she tweeted. “Noticing an increase in followers and engagement after losing huge chunks (or static follower count for weeks on end) for the past few years. Also seeing tweets from people whose accounts I never see and am not having to refollow other conservatives repeatedly.”
Noticing an increase in followers and engagement after losing huge chunks (or static follower count for weeks on end) for the past few years. Also seeing tweets from people I whose accounts I never see and am not having to refollow other conservatives repeatedly.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 26, 2022
Movieguide® previously reported on Musk’s efforts to buy Twitter:
Elon Musk is set to buy out Twitter after, moving the company from a publicly traded entity to privately held. The announcement comes after Musk bought a controlling share in the company in early April. Musk cites the First Amendment of the right to free speech as his reasoning.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Musk previously polled the platform’s users, asking if they felt Twitter adhered to free speech principles. The majority of respondents – 70%- voted no.
After news broke Monday, Musk tweeted, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
- Content: +2Share:
- Content: +1