TWITTER showed strong gains in its user base with more people turning to the short-message social network during the pandemic and civil unrest, according to a quarterly update yesterday that offered positive signs despite a big drop in ad revenues.

The short-message social network reported a net loss of US$1.2 billion (RM5.2 billion) in the quarter, most of that coming from setting aside funds for income taxes.

Revenue slumped 19% from a year ago to US$683 million. Despite some modest rebound from the pandemic-induced economic slump, Twitter said “many brands slowed or paused spend in reaction to US civil unrest” in May and June.

Twitter said ad revenue declined 15% over the last three weeks of June but appeared to have rebounded since then.

A key metric for Twitter, the number of “monetizable” daily active users, hit 186 million in the second quarter for a jump of 34% from last year.

Chief executive Jack Dorsey said the user gains showed “the highest quarterly year-over-year growth rate we’ve delivered” using this measure.

“People continue to come to Twitter to learn about and participate in conversations focused on systemic racism, Black Lives Matters, Covid-19 and the reopening and reclosing of economies all around the world,” Dorsey told analysts on a conference call.

Twitter shares rallied to gain four percent on Wall Street following the results.

The earnings report comes a week after Twitter suffered a hack that affected high-profile accounts and raised fears about security of the service which has become a key element of political conversation.

Twitter, an important tool used by President Donald Trump, is seen by some analysts as an important element in news and political discussion, a key to its growth. – AFP, July 24, 2020.