Some influential Twitter accounts seesawed followers as Elon Musk’s acquisition bid moves closer to a takeover. The shifts appear to be an organic reaction to the news, with users either joining or leaving the platform in anticipation of Musk’s ownership, The Verge reported.
(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)
The news portal estimated that follower counts for some influential account increased by ten times the average daily rate for the month leading up to the acquisition. Its analysis was based on a list of 100 influential Twitter accounts, 50 each from the political left and right, each with a minimum of 100,000 followers.
Twitter said that the fluctuations in followers count on its platform were organic in nature
“It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today,” U.S. representative Matt Gaetz tweeted.
The conservative accounts in the dataset gained 17,229 followers on average on April 26 while each liberal account lost 6,062 followers on the same day, according to The Verge report.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was the single largest gainer, and the account of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris suffered the biggest loss, according to the report. DeSantis’s account added 141,556 followers while Harris lost 22,453.
“Feels like Twitter changed its algorithm over the last day or two, like they’re covering their tracks before the public is allowed to peek under the hood. My followers are growing faster than usual without me doing anything different,” tweeted Aaron Kheriaty, a doctor and author.
Former President Barack Obama lost more than 300,000 followers after the news, Katy Perry lost more than 200,000 followers. Hours after the deal was announced, “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamil tweeted about a notable drop in followers, TechCrunch reported.
