Twitter users are growing more interested in crypto and pornography, leaked documents reveal

Twitter users are losing interest in news, sports, entertainment, fashion, and celebrities comparatively

(REUTERS)

Twitter’s highest-growing topics of interest are cryptocurrency and pornography, leaked internal research from the company has suggested.

Interest in other topics - news, sports and entertainment – has been declining among English-speaking ‘heavy users’, according to Reuters.

A "heavy tweeter" is a user defined that logs in to Twitter six or seven days a week, and tweets about three to four times a week.

These people account for under 10 per cent of all users, but generate 90 per cent of tweets and half of the company’s global revenue.

They have been in “absolute decline” since the start of the pandemic, the report says, although no specific conclusions were made about why that would be.

Adult nudity currently makes up approximately 13 per cent of all the content on Twitter, but advertisers generally avoid such content as it may damage their brand.

Cryptocurrency interest reached an all-time high in 2021, but interest crashed along with digital coins in June that year, and Twitter’s study indicates it might not be an area of growth.

Twitter is earning more ad revenue from the United States than in all other markets combined, the report also says.

The company is losing ground with users interested in fashion, as well as celebrities, to other platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Online streaming and eSports is also in decline.

“It seems as though there is a significant discrepancy between what I might imagine are our company values and our growth patterns,” one Twitter researcher wrote.

In a statement, Twitter said: "We regularly conduct research on a wide variety of trends, which evolve based on what’s happening in the world. Our overall audience has continued to grow, reaching 238 million [monetizable daily active users] in Q2 2022."

Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive expected to purchase the company on Friday, has previously expressed that Twitter might be “dying”.

The tech billionaire has until 9pm UK time on Friday to close the $44 billion acquisition or else face a trial in November.

The Washington Post reported that Mr Musk told potential investors that he plans to cull roughly 75 per cent of Twitter’s staff if he takes over.

The latest indication of what he plans to do with Twitter involves an integrated video feature that would compete with YouTube and generate additional revenue for the app.