Twitter says follower count drops were the result of people closing accounts

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Many high-profile Twitter users, including news organizations, were surprised by drops in their follower counts Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

The counts, however, appear to be accurate, according to NBC News reporting that included reaching out to Twitter.

The company investigated reports of “fluctuations in follower counts” and said that it saw a spike in account closures starting April 25, 2022, the day it was announced Elon Musk would be buying the platform and taking it private.

Twitter would not officially link the jump in account deletions to that news.

However, there has been widespread concern over how Musk’s ownership of the platform could affect its policies and policing of misinformation given Musk’s public message of wanting to promote free speech on it.

Although no link between the events has been confirmed, there have been anecdotal reports of users closing their accounts in “protest” of the Musk buyout.

Meanwhile, some right-wing accounts saw big boosts following the news, though it was not immediately clear if those were from existing users or new signups.

Twitter users have occasionally noticed sudden dips in follow counts in the past, though these were mostly related to the company removing inactive accounts or ones that violate its terms of service.