X-CEO: "There is simply no replacement for X"

"How cool is that, please?" Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the company behind the social media platform X, is visibly delighted at CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday afternoon (local time). A few hours earlier, competitor Mark Zuckerberg had announced that he would be introducing a "community notes" system on Meta's platforms along the lines of X – and would be dispensing with the services of so-called fact checkers in future.

Yaccarino sees this as confirmation of the course taken by owner Elon Musk and her at X. Community Notes are the best way to check statements for facts without bias. "There could be no greater appreciation than Mark and Meta understanding that," says the X boss in conversation with journalist Catherine Herridge on stage at the Venetian Convention Center in Las Vegas. "Welcome to the club, Mark."

"There is no replacement for X"

Meanwhile, X is doing well, claims Yaccarino, who joined the company in the summer of 2023. "We have growth everywhere we look," said the X boss. "Ninety percent of advertisers are back on X. There is simply no replacement for X. Since the acquisition, we've brought around 250 new products to the platform." Musk took over the short message service Twitter in the fall of 2022 after some back and forth.

While Yaccarino is likely to be focusing primarily on advertising customers, the platform is experiencing a slight decline in users, at least on this side of the Atlantic. In the EU, X must regularly disclose the average number of active users. Last summer, the company reported just under 106 million active users in the EU, compared to around 111 million a year earlier. X's turnover is no longer public since the company is no longer listed on the stock exchange.

Nevertheless, Yaccarino and Musk are confident about the future. Young Generation Z users in particular would engage with the platform. "Fashion, culture, sport" is what drives Gen Z. X has built a successful sports portal around the American football league NFL, which is intended to be a blueprint for other sports worldwide. "You will see more portals for other sports around the world," promises Yaccarino.

Yaccarino evades the question of whether there will be a similar portal for news. "X is a canvas for independent journalists," says the CEO. "The future of journalism does not lie in the traditional media." They would only provide "fan service" for their respective audiences. But Yaccarino reveals that the company has recruited John Stoll, a former columnist and editor of the Wall Street Journal, for its news department.

Musk influencing the election?

Yaccarino rejects criticism from Europe that Musk is interfering in domestic political affairs with his statements on X and influencing elections. "I don't see how that would influence an election," emphasizes the manager. "Leaders around the world speak their minds all the time. I don't think that should be a problem." On the contrary: "We encourage all business leaders to do the same, to share their opinions more, not less."

Yaccarino is holding out the prospect of an innovation for the still young year: X Money, a digital payment platform, is coming. There was already speculation about such ambitions last year. "X Money will change payments and the possibilities for creators on the platform forever," says Yaccarino at CES. "And of course we will be talking about Grok in 2025."

Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.

(vbr)