Despite leftist hopes that Mark Zuckerberg’s “sanely run” Twitter/X clone would supplant its competitor, the corporate legacy media is acknowledging the new platform’s struggle to retain users.
Facebook (now known as Meta) introduced Threads in a bid to capitalize on leftistoutrage against X, which has seen a relaxation of censorship under its new owner, Elon Musk. But, as the media now appears to recognize, the outrage has failed to translate into strong user retention.
Dan Neil and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk attend Tribeca Talks After The Movie: ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival at the SVA Theater on April 23, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Dario Cantatore/Getty Images)
Users’ fervor has fizzled: Engagement is stalling, according to data analytics companies. Many influencers have no idea what to post. And those who have large followings on X, formerly known as Twitter, or other text-based platforms have largely lost interest.
An analysis of Android users by Similarweb, a digital data and analytics company, estimated that daily active users on Threads’ Android app peaked at 49.3 million in early July and fell to 10.3 million after a month — a drop of nearly 80%. Data for iOS and Google Play show similar trends, according to July numbers from mobile app intelligence company Apptopia. Daily active users on Threads peaked at around 26.7 million a week after its July 5 launch, and dropped gradually to around 13.5 million by the end of the month.
Some celebrities who joined the platform before it was available to the public, such as Jennifer Lopez and Tom Brady, haven’t posted at all since launch week. MrBeast, the YouTube star who was the first user to reach 1 million followers on Threads, stopped posting about a month ago.
With prominent users going inactive, and Twitter/X making headlines with significant ad revenue payouts to creators, Threads appears to have failed to offer users a compelling reason to jump ship — beyond partisan political anger at Musk replatforming prominent conservatives.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election. Follow him on Twitter @AllumBokhari.