Clearing Twitter Bot May Be Performed By Elon Musk, Many Accounts Of Loss Of Followers

Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter who hates bots. (photo: dock. Twitter)

JAKARTA - Elon Musk has only had Twitter for a day. But he has made an unstable effect on the microblogging platform.

Several Twitter users have posted that they have lost followers (followers) since the $44 billion takeover which was completed on Thursday, October 27.

Musk, the world's richest man with a net worth of more than 210 billion (Rp3239 trillion), completed his Twitter purchase last Thursday following protracted legal battles and months of uncertainty.

Wow - I lost a few hundred followers overnight. Welcome to Twitter, Elon.

— Kate Smith (@byKateSmith) October 28, 2022

There is a possibility that users will lose Twitter followers because they are described as having a 'Great Cleaning' by one user, as users deactivate their accounts as a protest over Musk's purchase.

Another possibility is that Musk has worked to reduce the number of bots on the platform, which is said to reach five percent of all user accounts on the platform. This second possibility makes more sense.

I lost some followers last night. I'm not sure if it was bot cleaning which I doubt since Musk loves bots so I am wondering if some people have left Twitter and closed their accounts.

— Henry M. Rosenberg (@DoctorHenryCT) October 28, 2022

The Daily Mail has also been in contact with Twitter to request more information about why the number of users' followers is suddenly decreasing.

Twitter user @benjaminwittes posted last Friday: 'Wow. People seem to be getting rid of their Twitter accounts. I've lost about 700 followers, I think, in recent hours. Has anyone else experienced the same thing?'

Meanwhile, @hilaryluros posted: 'I just lost 50 followers of Twitter. Great cleaning has started.'

The @AuschwitzMuseum account, the official account for the Auschwitz commemoration in Poland, said its account "observed a strange decline in the number of followers" about 2,500 down since Thursday night.

Meanwhile @DoctorHenryCT said: 'I lost some followers last night. I'm not sure if it's a bot cleaning that I doubt because Musk likes bots, so I wonder if some people have left Twitter and closed their accounts.'

Meanwhile, @jadcedcreative said his followers 'fall like flies'.

Followers dropping like flies and tweets going nowhere. We’re off to a great start!

— Jay Arnold (@jadedcreative) October 28, 2022

Even @byKateSmith said: 'Wow - I lost a few hundred followers overnight. Welcome to Twitter, Elon."

There's also an @cheatcoren account saying a number of 'expected progressive people' have left Twitter. He added it was disappointing because the sound of the left wing would be more necessary than ever. This is not the time to step down.'

The old tweet seems to suggest that the so-called 'cleaning' has been going on for some time.

Early in the month, when Musk decided to continue his plans to take over Twitter, US Congressional Member Matt Gaetz (@ReplatetGaetz) said he lost 16,000 followers, while @SharylAttkisson said he had lost about 6,000 in just a few hours.