- Social Media Growth Guide
- Posts
- X Is Struggling To Make Money
X Is Struggling To Make Money
Because of its Debt burden, X is still likely to post a loss for the full year
Nikhil Wad
February 07, 2025
In partnership with
X Is Struggling To Make Money
While the public backlash against Elon Musk’s X project has been significant, particularly in the wake of the U.S. election, the latest financial data from the company shows that X is still bringing in money, and had a better-than-expected revenue boost in the Christmas period.
Which is the good news for the app, but the bad news is that because of its debt burden, X is still likely to post a loss for the full year.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, some of the banks that loaned Musk money to fund his Twitter purchase are now looking to offload that debt. And within those negotiations, they’ve shared insight into X’s current financial situation.
TikTok traffic is recovering, but it’s still not back in app stores
TikTok’s traffic is almost back to normal despite its delayed return to US app stores, according to Cloudflare Radar data seen by CNBC. The “DNS traffic for TikTok-related domains” is around 10 percent lower than the levels before its abrupt shutdown, David Belson, Cloudflare’s head of data insight, told CNBC. To compare, TikTok’s traffic dipped as much as 85 percent when the app went dark in response to the US divest-or-ban law, Cloudflare reported at the time. TikTok started coming back online on January 19th, but the app has remained unavailable on Google Play and the Apple App Store ever since.
Start learning AI in 2025
Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.
It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.
Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.
LinkedIn Expands Top-of-Feed News Banner Test
LinkedIn is expanding its test of a news banner in the mobile app, which highlights top stories that you may want to engage with above the main feed.
LinkedIn first launched the news banner in a limited test last October, but now, it’s being expanded to more users. But not to everyone just yet. At this stage, the news banner is being expanded to users in the U.S., Canada, and India.
Snapchat Offers Ad-Free Subscription Package
It seems that Snapchat has quietly released a new version of its Snapchat+ subscription offering that enables users to completely opt out of ads in the app, for a price.
Back in 2023, Meta launched an ad-free subscription package for European users, in order to meet new EU rules around providing an opt-out from targeted ads. Meta’s solution was to offer this subscription, which would ensure that Meta still makes money from its users, even if they do choose to opt out of ads. But EU advisory groups claim that Meta’s subscription plan undermines the focus of the GDPR, and its protections against “data capitalism.” As a result, Meta’s still trying to revise its package to meet EU requirements, while it also potentially faces fines as a result of the offering.
Maybe, that could be why Snap’s following Meta’s lead, but not promoting it just yet, as it waits to see how Meta deals with these additional complications.
Instagram Previews AI Elements in New ‘Edits’ App
Meta’s coming video editing app is starting to look a lot more interesting. As you may recall, in the recent scramble to figure out what would happen after TikTok was banned in the U.S., Meta announced its own version of CapCut, the video editing app that’s also owned by TikTok owner ByteDance (and thus, would also be banned under the TikTok sell-off bill).
At launch, Edits will enable users to:
Capture video up to 10 minutes in the app, and store drafts
Edit via a playback timeline, enabling more granular control
Find additional inspiration for their clips, including trending audio insights, and a real time overview of what’s popular in the app
Record content in higher quality Access video analytics
Trump Says New U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund Could Buy TikTok
President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday to create a federally owned sovereign wealth fund, saying it could buy part of TikTok. The full text of the order has not yet been released.
Instagram Tests Option to Rearrange Profile Grid Displays
Instagram will soon let you edit your profile grid and rearrange the order in which your posts are displayed in the app. It’s not quite ready as yet, but it is getting close, with IG officially announcing the change earlier this month.
Instagram’s been talking about adding this option for years, with the first test of the feature originally spotted back in 2022. But IG seemingly shelved it for a while, most likely to focus instead on rebuilding the grid to include larger thumbnails, which are more aligned with vertical content. But with that now live in the app, it is looking to make this a focus once again. So yes, you will soon be able to edit and rearrange your content thumbnails on your IG profile to make them into whatever presentation style you see fit.
LinkedIn Is Testing an AI Tool That Could Transform How People Search for Jobs
LinkedIn is testing a new job search tool that analyzes vast amounts of data to find roles users might overlook. The company says it goes beyond keyword searches to find relevant jobs job seekers wouldn't have thought to look for.
What'd you think of today's newsletter? |
Start your newsletter & monetize it
If you are serious about starting a newsletter & monetize it to be the master of your time, I highly recommend Beehiiv.
