How much smaller user base? Looking at some recent data, which may not be accurate (but they're required to publish user numbers in the EU at least), it looks like the user base may be only 0-20% smaller compared to 2022.

https://www.similarweb.com/blog/insights/social-media-news/x...

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/x-formerly-twitter-con...

https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/07/threads-is-nearing-xs-dail...

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics/

Smaller ad customer base, too, and qualitatively less demanding.

if bots count as user base they're thriving