Twitter reports mixed results as daily user numbers rise, but monthly users fall

Twitter says its number of daily active users has risen by 9% since last year, but the firm’s monthly user numbers have fallen – partly because of new EU privacy laws.

The social media company said that while the number of people who use its platform every day was up on the same period in 2017, the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and a company crackdown on automated accounts had seen monthly active users fall from 335 million in the last quarter to 326 million now.

The company said “decisions we have made to prioritise the health of the platform” had had an impact on user numbers.

However, the firm’s latest financial results reported an increase in revenue of 29% on the same quarter last year to 758 million dollars (£588m).

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said the platform was being made healthier because of the work the site was doing.

“We’re achieving meaningful progress in our efforts to make Twitter a healthier and valuable everyday service,” he said.

“We’re doing a better job detecting and removing spammy and suspicious accounts at sign-up. We’re also continuing to introduce improvements that make it easier for people to follow events, topics and interests on Twitter, like adding support for US TV shows in our new event infrastructure.

“This quarter’s strong results prove we can prioritise the long-term health of Twitter while growing the number of people who participate in public conversation.”

The company recently announced it had removed more than 700 accounts it claimed were linked to Iran and spreading misinformation on the site, and has also removed far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and a range of accounts linked to him and his InfoWars outlet over violations of Twitter policies on abusive behaviour.

Twitter has struggled to maintain growth in recent years, under pressure from other social media sites including Facebook and Instagram.