Patricia and Rosanna Arquette become latest celebs to leave Twitter as experts warn of mass exodus
Celebrity sisters Rosanna and Patricia Arquette became the latest Hollywood stars to leave Twitter following Elon Musk's takeover of the company.
The actors' accounts, with the handles @RoArquette and @PattyArquette, were no longer accessible as of Wednesday morning, November 9. While it's unclear if they quit on their own accord or were kicked off the platform, an error message on their accounts stated that "this account does not exist." The Arquette sisters have long used their Twitter accounts to promote left-wing talking points -- including equating Republicans to Nazis and the Taliban, referring to cops as the 'Gestapo', and declaring that Donald Trump was not a legitimate US President.
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Rosanna tweeted last year that she would take a knee to protest the national anthem and the US flag “for the rest of my life.” This week, the actress tweeted that the US would be in a better place if everyone followed NFL star Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem.
A growing number of left-leaning celebrities have exited Twitter since Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the platform, including Debra Messing, Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Fry, Gigi Hadid, and Shonda Rhimes. Many notable figures, including author Stephen King, have protested the billionaire's decision to charge a monthly fee for a blue-tick verification.
While it's not uncommon for users to sign out of a particular social media service only to return again, it could be different in the case of Twitter. Around 877,000 accounts were deactivated and an additional 497,000 were suspended between October 27 and November 1, shortly after Musk took ownership of the company, per data collected by Bot Sentinel, which tracks inauthentic behavior on the platform. The exodus reportedly amounted to more than double the usual number. "While every social media site's user base fluctuates, losing or suspending over million accounts in a four-day span is concerning. In terms of Twitter's reported 275M =/- users, it could be argued that since the numbers reflect a fraction of a percentage point of the whole that it is really no big deal but (there are) issues that undermine that rosy view," tech industry analyst Charles King of Pund-IT told Forbes.
The outlet noted that the great exodus and suspension of accounts took place before the new CEO essentially fired half the company's workforce, which means more users could leave in response. However, this is not the first time Twitter has faced a mass exit of users. Thousands of supporters of former President Trump left the platform after his account was suspended following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. However, there are many other users who have left or threatened to leave this time. "We could see a significant number jump ship as there is an increase in 'hate speech' on the platform," social media analyst Scott Steinberg told Forbes. "With the massive layoffs on Friday, Twitter has been gutted of its teams that were devoted to combating the spread of misinformation and disinformation. So we could see the exodus of users continue well into the New Year."
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Furthermore, it is important to note that the value of Twitter users is anything but equal. "So-called 'super users' – mostly celebrities, sports stars, and other well-known figures with massive numbers of followers – account for a large portion of tweets, retweets, and favorites that advertisers love," King explained. "Musk's initial missteps, like suggesting that verified account holders pay $20 monthly, were not greeted cheerfully by those vital users. If super users leave or substantially scale back their activities, Twitter and Musk will be in a world of hurt," he insisted.