As X loses its CEO, daily usage is down and competition is growing

In the wake of CEO Linda Yaccarino's recent departure, X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is grappling with a significant challenge: declining daily usage and rising competition. Data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower reveals that X's daily active users dropped by approximately 10% year-over-year as of the second quarter of 2025. Despite still boasting a user base 65% larger than Meta's Threads and ten times that of its closest competitor, Bluesky, X's dominance is increasingly under threat. Notably, recent findings from Similarweb indicate that Threads is rapidly closing the gap on mobile usage. In June 2025, Threads achieved 115.1 million daily active users across iOS and Android platforms, reflecting an impressive year-over-year growth of 127.8%. In contrast, X recorded 132 million daily active users, but its growth rate has declined by 15.2%. While X maintains a stronger web presence, user engagement remains robust. According to Sensor Tower, X users spend an average of 31 minutes per day on the platform, a stark contrast to Threads' 8 minutes. Moreover, nearly half of X's monthly app users engage daily, compared to 33% for Threads. Yet, Threads' rapid growth trajectory cannot be overlooked; the app has seen a 160% increase in daily active users year-over-year, driven by new features and the integration of Meta’s ecosystem. Threads is strategically focused on enhancing its advertising capabilities, which currently represent its sole revenue stream. Meta has recently expanded Threads' advertising options to global advertisers, including tests for video ads. This integration allows Threads to leverage Meta’s extensive advertising expertise, giving it an advantage over competitors. Under Yaccarino's leadership, X's advertising ecosystem showed signs of recovery, but the road has been tumultuous. As of 2025, advertisers in sectors like media and entertainment, shopping, and gaming comprised 25%, 22%, and 7% of total U.S. ad spending on X, respectively. This marks a notable increase from previous years, with major brands such as Apple, Google, and Verizon now joining the ranks of top advertisers on the platform. The advertising landscape remains fiercely competitive, dominated by the duopoly of Meta and Google. Meta's challenge lies not only in profitability but also in its ability to foster user engagement with new social networking applications. While past attempts at launching new platforms have largely failed, Threads has successfully harnessed Instagram's user base to achieve significant growth, now boasting 350 million monthly active users. Meanwhile, X, which is privately held and not obligated to disclose metrics, claims to have around 600 million monthly active users according to Elon Musk's previous statements.