Wednesday 2 November 2022 04:52 PM Searches for 'How to delete Twitter' surge by 500% since Elon Musk took over ... trends now

Google search engine data suggests Twitter users really are leaving the platform in their droves now Elon Musk is the new owner. 

Experts at security firm VPNOverview have used Google Trends to establish search increases over the past week since Musk's $44 billion (£38 billion) takeover. 

Globally, searches for 'How to delete Twitter' surged by 500 per cent in the past week, from October 24 to October 31, the firm found. 

Searches for 'boycott Twitter' are also up 4,800 per cent in the last seven days, from October 26 to November 2. 

It's already known many Twitter users are losing followers due to accounts disappearing, likely due to deletion.  

Deleting a Twitter account is actually a fairly simple process that can be completed in a few steps, although users wanting to 'disengage' from the site should not feel compelled to do so, VPNOverview suggests. 

Naj Ahmed, a privacy expert at VPNOverview, said it's 'unlikely' that there will be immediate wholesale changes at Twitter and that the takeover 'doesn't mean a whole lot right away'. 

'Twitter's not trying to revolutionise the way people communicate, or disrupt an existing industry, unlike most of Mr Musk's existing companies,' Ahmed said. 

'This is quite different from most of Mr Musk's portfolio, as it's one of the few times that he's bought an established company that isn't trying to push the boundaries of what's possible.' 

Ahmed also said he expects 'more openness' in the type of content that's published on Twitter, as well as the return of certain popular figures who were banned by the platform, such as Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Musk said: 'Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks.'