Elon Musk's social media activity on X has significantly increased in 2024, with a noticeable shift towards political content. The tech mogul's posting volume has risen to 13,000 posts, averaging 61 posts per day, a significant increase from just 9 daily posts in 2019.
What Happened: His endorsement of former President Donald Trump's campaign in July was a clear indication of his increased political engagement. His posts this year, through the end of July, nearly matched his total posts for the entire previous year, according to a data-based report by The Wall Street Journal.
An analysis of nearly 42,000 of Musk's social media exchanges between 2019 and the end of July revealed that Musk's posts have increasingly focused on political and social issues, with the number of exchanges containing political terms in 2024 being roughly 230 times more than in 2019.
Musk's posts have increasingly taken a political tone since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. His criticism of government-mandated lockdowns and his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022 have further highlighted his political leanings.
Musk's shift towards political content has not been without controversy. His posts have touched on sensitive political and social issues, and at times, amplified inflammatory or conspiratorial content, according to the report.
Why It Matters: Musk's increased political engagement coincides with a challenging period for his social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter. Since Musk's acquisition, the platform's revenue has plummeted by 84%, sparking fears among Tesla investors that Musk might liquidate more Tesla stock to fill the financial gap, potentially hurting Tesla's value.
Musk's political engagement has also seen him conduct a poll on X to gauge the political affiliations of his 196 million followers.
Amid concerns over his controversial statements, the Royal Society is reportedly considering expelling Musk from its fellowship.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote