Some conservatives are seeing a jump in the number of followers they have on Twitter, even as some liberals bemoan the loss of fans.
“Donald Trump Jr. led the way in questioning the giant spike, which saw him gain 87,296 new followers by Tuesday — and another 119,022 by early Wednesday, after weeks of averaging only a few thousand each day,” the New York Post reported.
“While I’m awesome and totally deserving of 87,000 new followers a day it seems that someone took the shackles off my account,” former President Donald Trump’s son wrote Tuesday. “Wonder if they’re burning the evidence before new mgmt comes in?” he asked.
While I’m awesome and totally deserving of 87,000 new followers a day it seems that someone took the shackles off my account. Wonder if they’re burning the evidence before new mgmt comes in? pic.twitter.com/9Mso48qyNP
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 26, 2022
Meanwhile, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — a frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 — saw his followers jump by more than 200,000 over the past few days, the Post reported. Fox News host Tucker Carlson picked up nearly 150,000 as Rep. Matt Gaetz soared by more than 60,000 followers, prompting him to say, “It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today….”
Conservative talk show host Dana Loesch offered a theory. “It’s too soon for Musk to have done this but I’m wondering if something was changed by those seeking to minimize their fingerprint ahead of potential transparency,” she wrote on Twitter.
It’s too soon for Musk to have done this but I’m wondering if something was changed by those seeking to minimize their fingerprint ahead of potential transparency.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 26, 2022
“Noticing an increase in followers and engagement after losing huge chunks (or static follower count for weeks on end) for the past few years. Also seeing tweets from people I whose accounts I never see and am not having to refollow other conservatives repeatedly,” Loesch wrote.
Conservatives are well aware of how Twitter limits their accounts. The social media giant can “shadow-ban” them, which means their posts don’t even appear on their followers newsfeeds. Plus, Twitter can simply purge an account’s followers and censor any content they choose by labeling it “hate speech” or “harassment.”
After a final deal was announced Monday about billionaire Elon Musk buying Twitter, a slew of liberals came out to bemoan lost followers.
“Just lost 2000 followers. Anyone else losing followers?” Neera Tanden, a Biden nominee who withdrew and longtime supporter of Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter.
Just lost 2000 followers. Anyone else losing followers?
— Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) April 25, 2022
Gun control activist David Hogg joined in the sobfest, saying, “Oh I thought it was just some really bad takes I posted but guess I’m not alone -3000 today.”
Oh I thought it was just some really bad takes I posted but guess I'm not alone -3000 today
— David Hogg ☮️ (@davidhogg111) April 25, 2022
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill retweeted Tanden’s tweet, adding: “I just lost more than 8,000 followers in the last couple of hours. Was it something I said?”
Weird. I just lost more than 8,000 followers in the last couple of hours. Was it something I said? https://t.co/TS3vwDephc
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) April 25, 2022
Another Twitter user, Christopher Bouzy, wrote: “Exclusive: Over the past 24 hours, Democrats have experienced a significant decrease in followers, while Republicans have experienced a significant increase in followers…” He posted a chart on former President Barack Obama, which showed he lost roughly 5,000 of his 131 million followers.
🤖Exclusive: Over the past 24 hours, Democrats have experienced a significant decrease in followers, while Republicans have experienced a significant increase in followers… pic.twitter.com/jOg0or4bKS
— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) April 26, 2022
“I’m down about the same (proportionately) – around 1800. Can’t tell if it’s dead bots or people afraid that Elon will find out they were following me,” former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tweeted.
I'm down about the same (proportionately) – around 1800. Can't tell if it's dead bots or people afraid that Elon will find out they were following me
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 25, 2022
The social media site is overrun with bots. Way back in 2017, CNBC reported that “as many as 48 million Twitter accounts aren’t people.” But Musk plans to change that. Last week, he tweeted: “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!”
If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.