One in ten people in the UK will use Twitter more now that Musk is set to become the owner

That ‘Tesla guy’ who’s buying Twitter? Nearly half of us care about it and 35% like him

WHAT: Toluna asked 1,036 adults aged 18+ in the UK about their thoughts on Elon Musk’s impending acquisition of Twitter.

The world’s richest person, according to Forbes magazine, has agreed to buy Twitter for $44bn (£34.5bn).

Musk believes the social media platform has huge potential and plans to make some big changes when he becomes the official owner—and the UK public seems to buy into this vision.

KEY FINDINGS
43% of all respondents personally care about Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, rising to 59% among active Twitter users.

Despite reports of people boycotting Twitter because of the billionaire’s intended takeover, over a third (35%) of respondents in the UK said that they like Elon Musk. That figure was notably higher among 18-34 year-olds (47%) and active Twitter users (47%).

When asked how they’d describe him:

42% said he’s driven
40% believe he is intelligent
37% think he is innovative
35% said he’s powerful
31%, not surprisingly, said he was controversial
22% said he’s fearless

In terms of what company they mostly associate Elon Musk with:

An overwhelming majority (65%) said Telsa
11% said they mostly associate him with SpaceX
7% associate him the most with payment platform PayPal

And will we use Twitter more or less when Musk takes over?

78% of all respondents said it won’t impact their Twitter usage – however, 6% said it will encourage them to use the platform for the first time
14% of active users said they will use Twitter more, compared with 5% who will use it less or stop using it altogether
20% of those between 18-34 years old will use Twitter more often

Will Musk make Twitter better?

37% of those surveyed believe Musk’s takeover will improve the performance of Twitter, rising to 49% of active Twitter users
Indeed, 15% of respondents said the performance of Twitter will improve a lot under his ownership

Lee Langford, Research Director in Toluna’s Media & Entertainment team, said: “While Elon Musk might be a divisive figure, there is no doubt he’s a powerful and innovative businessman in the minds of people across the UK. Musk’s takeover might not go down well with everyone, but a fair amount of people, as our research shows, do like him and it’s not going to drive them away from Twitter. For some, it will, in fact, encourage them to use it more, and many of those we talked to believe Musk will enhance the user experience of Twitter and its performance. It’s an interesting time for the brand and it’ll be fascinating to see how people react to the changes Musk makes when he officially takes over. By describing Donald Trump’s permanent Twitter ban as a ‘morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme’ to the Financial Times, Musk is putting an early stake in the ground that he plans to shake things up.”