AI and alt-X: Behind the hunt for more social media users

Facebook boasted more than 3.06 billion monthly active users (MAU) globally, Instagram had 2 billion and YouTube 2.5 billion users. These seemingly unassailable leads, with closest rivals TikTok (1.5 billion) and Snapchat (800 million), reveal subplots within the social media ecosystem, where decentralised networks and AI are slowly emerging to prominent roles, amid a search for new audiences.

The pursuit of an alternative to Twitter, since renamed X by Elon Musk, slowed but didn’t stall completely. Two networks that initially provided hope, Mastodon and Bluesky, never gained momentum to challenge X’s robust 611 million MAUs, according to research firm Statista. However, both networks have continued to evolve.