Twitter is now the most downloaded news app in the world
Nickie Louise
Posted On March 27, 2023
Twitter is now the number one most downloaded news app in the world with over 7.2 million ratings, according to the latest app rankings from the Apple App Store. News aggregation platforms Reddit and local news app NextDoor came in second and third place respectively.
CNN and the New York Times are the only two legacy media outlets that make the top ten spot, with CNN in the seventh place and the New York Times in the tenth spot.
The news comes just a day after Twitter set a new milestone reaching over 500 million total active users just 5 months after Elon Musk acquired the social media platform for $44 billion late last year.
“We rely on Twitter to help us express our thoughts and keep up with the news. And with Twitter’s Apple TV app (our 2016 App of the Year), we’ve also got a bigger window into current events and topical discussions. From breaking-news tweets to live video feeds—and even Thursday Night Football—the benefits of that little bird are always getting bigger.”
The success of Twitter as the go-to news source is a further confirmation of Americans’ distrust of the mainstream media. Responding to a post from Twitter user DogeDesigner about the social platform becoming the most downloaded news app, Twitter owner Elon Musk said:
“Twitter is the news.”
Twitter is the news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023
In April of last year, Musk explained why he bought the social platform. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said.
He also added: “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Meanwhile, Twitter continues to experience accelerated growth. Just last week, Musk said that Twitter “exceeded 8 billion user minutes per day.” In just five months since Musk took the helm of the company, Twitter has released a set of new features despite laying off 75% of its employees.
On April 25, Twitter was sold to Elon Musk for $44 billion. Once completed, the world’s richest person will own arguably the most influential social platform in the world.
