Twitter sees jump in user growth

Twitter credited the pandemic and recent election for a boost in usage during the fourth quarter.

The company on Tuesday reported that average monetizable daily active usage reached 192 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 27 percent from the same time period the year before. But the social media giant warned the rate of user growth will slow in the coming months after a boost attributed to the pandemic and recent election.

Twitter told shareholders in its quarterly report it expects user growth to slow to about a 20 percent increase in the next quarter, potentially followed by quarterly growth rates in the “low double digits” later this year.

The company also said it expects total costs and expenses to grow to about 25 percent or more in 2021.

Overall, however, Twitter reported a “strong finish” to last year with a revenue of $1.29 billion, up 28 percent year over year.