Twitter and the Ron DeSantis campaign are claiming that overwhelming interest was to blame for the technical problems with Wednesday night's presidential campaign rollout on Twitter Spaces. But while the number of listeners was notable, other platforms have handled similar audiences without trouble.
“We had a huge audience. It was the biggest they've ever had. It did break the Twitter Space," DeSantis said of the snafu afterward in an interview on Fox News.
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The Space with Florida's governor was "probably the biggest room that has ever been assembled online," said venture capitalist David Sacks, who moderated the event with Elon Musk and DeSantis.
It is true that the gathering, the first presidential campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces, drew a massive audience.
More than 700,000 people joined at one point, according to DeSantis adviser Generra Peck. The numbers fell quickly, though, after the event glitched and many were not able to hear DeSantis and the others.
After Musk started a separate Spaces room to finish the interview, the number of guests averaged around 200,000.
Nevertheless, DeSantis's interview was likely the largest Twitter Space to date. The next comparable event featured Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and averaged 160,000 listeners.
It is far from the largest event on the internet, however. The video live-streaming platform Twitch regularly hosts events that attract 600,000-700,000 viewers for major events. The largest Twitch stream to date featured the Spanish streamer Ibai broadcasting a boxing match to 3.3 million concurrent viewers. Twitch regularly hosts massive events without major problems.
Twitter's struggles conflict with Musk's claims that he has improved the platform's back end. Following his purchase of Twitter last year, he has reduced the team by about 80%.
Musk and DeSantis both touted Twitter as a platform for free speech during the event. "I think what was done with Twitter was significant for the future of our country," DeSantis said. Musk agreed, noting that "Twitter was indeed expensive, but free speech is priceless."
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DeSantis's interview was an attempt to bypass traditional media and reach people directly. The Florida governor was joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and conservative activist Christopher Rufo, along with other guests.
DeSantis's team said that the Twitter Spaces interview and launch eventually received more than 30 million views in the first 15 hours.