Echo Chamber or Vital Activism: Has bands and artists leaving X had any impact?
With Elon Musk making questionable hand gestures during his first day in government while bands and artists make condemning statements in their droves as they leave his most prominent platform, X, it can be tricky to decipher where the pole of power and public opinion lies. Despite the perceived bad press piled upon him by alternative stars, he remains the most wealthy person in the world and has now risen to a prominent position alongside his pal, the President.
So, are we leaving in vain? Is this whole movement futile? Does the voice of bands and artists matter in the same way it once seemed when stars measurably helped bring about the Civil Rights Act in 1964? It might seem like many of these rhetorical questions are sadly set to be answered in the negative. Just about everyone in our wheelhouse has made moves against Musk in recent times, and yet he still goons his way to increasing influence, suggesting the tragic problem of an actionless echo chamber.
However, the statistics defy this worry and show that while the likes of Michael Stipe and the many musicians who have left X might not yield the mighty sword of power that Musk all too gladly swings, the boycott movement is having an impact. The simplest figure to follow on this front is market value. In 2022, when Musk bought X, it was valued by Brand Finance as being worth around $5.7 billion. Now, that estimate sits at $673 million. That’s quite a decline.
The reason for this is largely due to a rapid drop in active users. While estimates vary, a decrease is starkly evident. This has resulted in a plummeting revenue turnover. Internal company documents unearthed by Bloomberg showed falls of around 40% in turnover. These economic woes have been profound. In the first quarter of 2023, his first full year in charge, the company lost a whopping $456 million.
The decline in active users has only gotten worse since then. Statista estimates that Twitter’s active user total will be at a high of 368.4 million in 2022 and around 335.7 million in 2024, with the trend accelerating. Traditionally, around 90% of the company’s income has been from advertising. Advertisers prefer a large market with a healthy reputation to support their brands. Therefore, the future does not bode well for X at present.
Of course, it would be ludicrous to suggest that bands, artists and prominent public figures have been behind this change in fortunes. However, it is also not unreasonable to suggest that their words and actions have had a marked and evident impact.
Sometimes, we might scoff and think, ‘What use is it if a small indie band makes a stance against a prancer who has only galvanised his stance in recent times, seemingly gaining support from some fractions along the way?’ the domino effect of active protest should not be forgotten. While echo chambers are most certainly a thing, and one person’s favourite band making a bold stance is another’s laughable asterisk to an otherwise unstoppable rise, many echo chambers, in conjunction, can eclipse asterisk status and make a measurable impact.
The instability of X and other assets has caused Tesla’s stock to fall more than 59% in recent times, and according to Forbes, Musk’s fortune has shrunk by around $100 billion this year alone. It might not be rock ‘n’ roll naysayers driving that in its entirety, but their recent collectivism and action stand as a glowing example of how the currency of power can be uprooted by the virtue of the people—especially those with an influential platform.
Simply put, X is reliant on active users to function. If the ones we join to follow up sticks and leave, then the platform formerly known as Twitter might quickly become the platform formerly known as X. That would make it a markedly bad investment for the new leader of the Department for Government Efficiency.
