Analysis of Google search data reveals that searches for Mastodon social have surged over 14 times greater than typical search levels in the US in November as Elon Musk began implementing bans on Twitter impersonators and hit out at Mastodon social in a now-deleted tweet.
The analysis, by cryptocurrency betting review website Cryptobetting.org, reveals that searches for “Mastodon” surged by 1 308% in the US, 2 032% worldwide and 4 404% in the UK as Musk’s controversial overhaul of Twitter continues to dominate the social platform.
Since Musk became Twitter’s CEO, there have been over 920 000 searches for Mastodon worldwide, with 405 000 searches in the US alone.
This is an increase of over 14 times the average search interest when compared to national average levels in the US over the last five years. There are similar increases seen in the UK and worldwide, with search interest levels rising over 45 and 21 times above average levels, respectively.
The peak of the trend coincides firstly with when Musk began cracking down on parody accounts such as banning comedian Kathy Griffin and then mentioning Mastodon in a now-deleted tweet, driving users to the Twitter-alternative platform.
Searches for “Delete Twitter” have also surged by 201% in the US and 102% worldwide in the last month.
There have been 129 000 searches for “Delete Twitter” worldwide in the past month, with 33 000 searches in the US.
This could mean that Musk’s Twitter overhaul and his tweets have caused an estimated one million users to seek alternative platforms so far.
A spokesperson at Cryptobetting.org commented on the findings:
“Elon Musk’s takeover has been a controversial and widely-publicised event, mainly due to the conversation around free speech and impersonation, and also the sweeping effects that platform changes have on its high number of users,” says a Cryptobetting.org spokesperson. “While there aren’t many social networks that can seriously compete with Twitter, it looks like we are witnessing the decline of our favourite social networks in realtime, as we have done with MySpace, Bebo and Google+.
“While Mastodon is still a small fish in a big pond, the rapid increase in searches as people switch off from Musk-era Twitter signifies that there are many users who are looking for a new place to call home.”
