Twitter installs up 21% and revenue up 66%

The acquisition of Twitter resulted in an increase in installs, spending and usage of its mobile app, as well as increased interest in alternative platforms such as Mastodon and Tumblr. According to an analysis by Sensor Tower Store Intelligence , global spending on Twitter grew 66% in the 12 days after the acquisition was completed, with installs up 21%.

Growth across the board

Since the completion of the acquisition, the Twitter mobile app has had 7.6 million installs worldwide, and consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play totaled $502,000 in the 12 days from October 27 to November 7. Compared to the previous period from Oct. 15 to Oct. 26, installs are up 21% from $6.3 million and spending is up 66% from $303,000.

In the United States, growth was even more pronounced when comparing the same two periods. The Twitter mobile app grew by 31% from 916,000 to 1.2 installs. US consumer spending growth slightly lagged the global trend, climbing 65% to $442,000 from $268,000.

Daily usage of the Twitter mobile app also increased slightly by 2% in the 12 days after the acquisition compared to the previous period.

Mastodon and Tumblr as alternatives

A week after the Twitter acquisition was completed, Mastodon and Tumblr emerged as the top alternative social media platforms in the US. They were #1 and #4 respectively.

In the 12 days after acquisition (October 27 to November 7), Mastodon in the US had about 322,000 installs, over 100 times the previous 3,000 installs (October 15 to October 26). Globally, app installs increased by 657% to 1 million in 12 days from 15,000 in the previous period. Third-party Mastodon apps such as Metatext and Tootle also saw a jump across the two periods, rising from less than 1,000 installs to 19,000 and 7,000 downloads worldwide, respectively.

Tumblr saw more growth in the US than globally, where the app grew 96% from 47,000 to 92,000 installs. On the other hand, global installs rose 77% to 301,000.

Smaller alternative platforms like CounterSocial have also grown. CounterSocial was ranked the 11th top social networking app by growth in the US during the week of October 31, and in the 12 days after the Twitter acquisition, its installs from the US App Store and Google Play grew by 2,300% to 24,000. Globally, during this period, the application was installed approximately 33,000 times, which is 3,200% more than 12 days before.

Troubled Times for Twitter

The turmoil of the past two weeks is likely to continue in the short term as Twitter rapidly rolls out features and policies under its new leadership. However, the long-term implications are yet to be understood. Time will tell if the trends seen so far continue or if app usage returns to normal, whether there will be an increase in adoption and spending on the Twitter mobile app, or a surge in interest in alternatives like Mastodon. Newbies have an opportunity to carve out their niche, although they will certainly face challenges from existing social platforms like Tumblr.