Elon Musk's Twitter: A big year of change on X has huge declines - but there's a saving grace for the platform

But luckily for Elon, he may just have a saving grace for his $44 billion asset. There still isn't a direct rival who can offer a space for discussion and shed light on global events in the same way X can.

It truly feels like much longer ago when it was finally announced that Elon had bought Twitter and subsequently tweeted that "the bird has been freed." Free from what exactly I don't know, but Musk clearly had big plans for the platform considering the changes we've seen.

Whether it's been forcing people to pay for blue ticks - a massive obstacle in verification - removing headlines from article posts, or making Tweetdeck a product that users must pay for, it's clear to see the approach of a man who has done well in business in his first year of owning Twitter/X.

And there's the decline the platform is experiencing. According to Slate, Twitter's daily user figures have shrunk by around 13 percent. But that's not all.

As the graph below clearly shows, Twitter's referrals to top news sites is on a downward slope - although Facebook's no better. But perhaps that is exactly what Elon Musk wants.

He tweeted earlier this year: "Citizen journalism is the path to a better future! I strongly encourage people around the world to post news about events as they're happening, in both text and video."

While the benefits of the immediacy of news are present, the perils here are almost too obvious to mention. Misinformation is rife on Twitter - a particular concern at a time like now when tensions are high in the Middle East during the Israel/Palestine conflict.

It could (always) be worse though. One of X's biggest rivals continues to be Meta which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This week it was revealed that 33 states are suing Meta over claims that Instagram has endangered the mental health of young people.

Yes, rivals have tried to offer a new digital space for people to share their thoughts. But platforms like Masterdom have failed to lure people over and Threads - despite initial huge sign-up figures - saw a 79 percent drop in traffic in August.

Still though, with a host of generally offensive and crude opinions shared on X too, will it be long before someone decides to take action here?