Amidst reports of a substantial decrease in active users on the Threads, the Twitter clone launched by Facebook (now known as Meta), CEO Mark Zuckerberg is urging calm and expressing optimism for the platform’s future.
The Messenger reports that in the face of a more than 50 percent drop in user traffic, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains steadfast in his belief in the potential of Threads. In a recent post on the platform, Zuckerberg expressed his optimism, stating that he was “optimistic about how the Threads community is coming together.”
Mark Zuckerberg Meta Selfie (Facebook)
Elon Musk’s Halloween costume (Taylor Hill /Getty)
Despite the reported decline, Zuckerberg highlighted the app’s early success, noting that Threads was downloaded more than 100 million times in less than a week and that tens of millions of people used the app daily. However, he did not directly address the decline in active users.
Zuckerberg outlined the company’s plans for the app. “The focus for the rest of the year is improving the basics and retention. It’ll take time to stabilize, but once we nail that then we’ll focus on growing the community,” he said. This comes as Threads currently lacks some of the basic functions that have made Twitter popular, such as a feed filled only with people you follow, direct messages, and a search function. Furthermore, Threads is not yet available in the European Union due to regulatory uncertainty.
Despite the challenges, Zuckerberg remains confident in the app’s future, drawing on the company’s past successes. “We’ve run this playbook many times (FB, IG, Stories, Reels, etc) and I’m confident Threads is on a good path too,” he said.
However, third-party traffic analysts have reported a significant dip in Threads users. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported a 20 percent decrease in daily active users on iOS and Android, and a 50 percent decrease in time spent on the app per user. Meanwhile, Similarweb reported an even larger drop in daily active users on Android, from 49 million to 23.6 million in a week.
Read more at the Messenger here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan