By Elizabeth Lambe

I started writing this post when Twitter was still called, well, Twitter! In just a few short months. Elon Musk made it possible to purchase a blue check mark and the platform was slowly devolving into chaos. Now you will see it referred to as “X (formerly Twitter) and with one Google search you can find a million articles criticizing every aspect of the platform. Throughout every new version, the question remains: is Twitter still relevant?

I feel confident in answering this question with a resounding yes! There are a few reasons behind my thought process.

Twitter started as a microblogging platform in 2006, growing quickly in popularity with a niche crowd. In the years that followed, new social media platforms started popping up left and right. Today, Twitter has a worldwide audience of 450 million users and 259.4 million daily active users. Over half of users fall into the Gen-Z category. While it falls behind Instagram and Facebook  in popularity, Twitter still boasts a very large audience that you don’t want to ignore!

Twitter also provides a unique way to interact with your audience. While it looks very different from its initial microblogging days, users are still accustomed to seeing short-life or company updates. Posts aren’t expected to be as polished as other platforms. Twitter provides personality and relatability for your company. Asking silly questions or sharing that the office is way too warm might be annoying on Facebook, but it’s encouraged on Twitter.

Finally, Twitter users linger on ad content longer than users on any other social media platform. Not only has this remained true throughout the changes Musk implemented, but the screen time per ad has actually increased over the past year!

Don’t get me wrong; I am certain that Twitter is headed toward inevitable doom. But remember two things: first, the doom has yet to occur and there is such a thing as jumping ship too early. Second, this imminent doom is no accident. Think what you will about Elon Musk (and believe me, I have plenty of thoughts), there is no denying that the man is a genius. I believe that he isn’t running Twitter into the ground out of incompetence but on purpose. For him, the value of Twitter isn’t the users but the back-end code and technology. When you realize that every move Musk makes is intentional, you can see that he also has every intention of going out with a bang! The conversation around Twitter will continue to grow, keeping it relevant while we wait for the end to come. The platform itself might be declining, but its popularity has yet to wane. Take advantage of that popularity while you still can!