Is Elon Musk's X Following Built On Millions Of Dormant Accounts? Here's What Data Reveals

Elon Musk's immense following on X (formerly Twitter) is under scrutiny as data reveals millions of seemingly inactive accounts.

Is Elon Musk’s colossal following on X, formerly known as Twitter, too good to be true? New data extracted by a Berlin-based software developer has hinted toward millions of seemingly inactive accounts. 

What Happened: In March earlier this year, Musk became the most followed person on X, surpassing former President Barack Obama. However, fresh data compiled by Travis Brown suggests that a significant portion of this following might be more a mirage than reality, reported Mashable. 

See Also: Elon Musk’s Secretive SpaceX Valuation At Par With Intel, Disney: Reports Narrower FY22 Loss

Of the 153,209,283 X accounts that followed Musk during the data collection period, 42% — over 65.3 million users — had zero followers on their accounts. Subsequently, more than 72% of these accounts had less than 10 followers. 

Traits that often signify bots or inactive users were also noticeable in Musk’s following. About 25%, or more than 38 million, used the default profile image that X provides for new accounts, and just under 50 million had strings of numbers in their usernames. 

Intriguingly, 13.5 million accounts in this list, followed only one account — @ElonMusk.

Another interesting thing Brown found when looking at Musk’s followers was that more than a quarter of his current followers, specifically 38.9 million, only created their accounts after the tech mogul took control of Twitter on Oct. 27, 2022. 

Musk’s push for X Premium, previously known as Twitter Blue, promised extra features and was seen as a personal endorsement. Yet, according to Brown, the numbers tell a different story. Only a tiny fraction — 0.3% — of his followers had subscribed to this premium service, the report noted.

While the aforementioned stats don’t explicitly prove the accounts are fake, they raise suspicions. 

Why It’s Important: As Musk boasts over 540 million “monthly users” on X, the legitimacy of his massive follower count has come under scrutiny. 

With millions of potential inactive, dormant, or even fake accounts, real engagement on the platform might not be as robust as it appears.

𝕏 monthly users reach new high in 2023 pic.twitter.com/trqLGBEvvA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2023

The numbers also add another dimension to the ongoing rivalry between Musk's X and Mark Zuckerberg's Threads, a social media app that attracted 100 million signups just five days after its launch but has been facing a gradual decline since then. 

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Photo By Frederic Legrand - COMEO On Shutterstock