Meta’s Threads app, vying to compete with Twitter (now rebranded as X), seems to be facing an uphill battle in its quest for microblogging dominance.
According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, while Threads saw an impressive start with around 100 million activations in its first five days, over half of those users have stopped using it.
In a call with employees, Zuckerberg shared, “Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet.” Despite the decline in user numbers, the CEO expressed confidence that Threads’ user base will grow as the app introduces new features, potentially including a desktop version and content search capabilities.
The app garnered significant attention before launch, generating high expectations among Twitter users dissatisfied with Elon Musk’s changes since Meta’s acquisition of Twitter. Additionally, Threads’ seamless integration with Instagram, another Meta app with over a billion users, facilitated easy setup, followers, and account discovery.
Initially resembling Twitter, Threads faced legal threats for being perceived as a “copycat” product. However, the development team has been actively working to enhance the app’s features and usability. Recently, Threads introduced a Following feed, displaying posts only from users you follow, offering an alternative to the existing algorithmic feed.
