Threads, the new social media platform launched by Mark Zuckerberg as a rival to Twitter, has experienced a significant drop in user engagement and growth following a record-breaking debut. Analysts have published data showing a 25 percent dropoff in daily users and a 50 percent drop in the time spent on Facebook’s latest platform. Elon Musk has been quick to use his own Twitter platform to point out that Zuckerberg’s Twitter clone appears to be faltering.
CNBC reports that following a record-breaking debut, Threads, a new social media platform introduced by Facebook (now known as Meta) as a competitor to Twitter, has suffered a significant decline in user engagement and growth.
Spacex founder Elon Musk celebrates (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Mark Zuckerberg discusses Instagram (AFP/Getty)
After a spectacular launch that saw a record 100 million sign-ups in just five days, Threads has seen a notable decrease in both user engagement and growth. Data from marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower and digital data and analytics company Similarweb indicate a significant drop-off in these key metrics.
Anthony Bartolacci, managing director at Sensor Tower, noted the initial success of Threads, stating, “The Threads launch really did ‘break the internet.” Bartolacci stated: “In the 10-plus years Sensor Tower has been estimating app installs, the first 72 hours of Threads was truly in a class by itself.” However, Bartolacci also pointed out that recent data suggests a significant pullback in user engagement since Threads’ launch. Tuesday and Wednesday saw a 20 percent decrease in daily active users compared to Saturday, and a 50 percent decrease in user time spent, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
Similarweb’s data echoed these findings, showing a dropoff of more than 25 percent in daily active users between its July 7 peak and Monday for Threads users on Android phones worldwide. The average amount of time U.S. users spent on the app also dropped from about 20 minutes on July 6 to just over eight minutes on July 10. David Carr, senior insights manager at Similarweb, said, “While there was intense interest in checking out the app initially, not every user has made a habit of visiting Threads as often as they might other social apps.”
Despite the drop in engagement, Facebook remains optimistic about the future of Threads. A spokesperson for the company said, “While it’s early days, we’re excited about the initial success of Threads, which has surpassed our expectations. We launched the app just over a week ago, and our focus now is on ensuring stable performance, delivering new features and continuing to improve the experience in the coming months.”
Breitbart News reported this week that Musk’s Twitter is blocking links to Threads. Musk was quick to spread and respond to tweets pointing out that consumers appear to be losing interest in Zuck’s latest product.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2023
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan