CHIP50 Report #97: Twitter, Social Media, and Elon Musk

In this January 2023 report from the Civic Health and Institutions Project (CHIP50), researchers surveyed 24,948 people ages 18+ across all 50 states and the District of Columbia in order to examine Americans’ usage and perceptions of Twitter through its ownership transition and relative to other social media platforms.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Comparing their October 2022 survey conducted immediately before Elon Musk purchased Twitter to their December 2022-January 2023 survey, the percentage of Americans who reported using Twitter dropped from 32.4% to 29.5%. This decline was driven by Democrats, 38% of whom reported using Twitter in their survey before Musk took over the company, which dropped to 33% after.
• 53% of Republicans trust Elon Musk to do what is right either somewhat or a lot, compared to just 24% of Democrats.
• Democrats were 15% more likely than Republicans to trust Twitter to do what is right before Musk purchased the site, but trust among Republicans and Democrats converged to equal levels following Musk’s takeover, with 34% of both parties trusting Twitter to do what is right.
• Republicans perceived a significant decrease in bias against conservatives on Twitter and an increase in neutrality after Musk took over, while Democrats saw a significant increase in bias against liberals and a decrease in neutrality since Musk bought Twitter.

Read the full report at CHIP50.0rg.