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Has 'Twitter-killer' Threads lost its charm? Meta app usage drastically drops by half since its initial upswing

Threads may not be the 'Twitter killer' app Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hoped it would be

SAN ANSELMO, CALIFORNIA: The new Twitter rival Threads app, developed by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, experienced extraordinary success after going live on July 5, 2023. Threads app has had enormous success attracting new users in its brief existence, but whether it has been equally successful at maintaining those individuals is debatable. According to analytics firm Similarweb, users have been fleeing the Instagram-linked Threads in droves since it sprang to fame on social media at the beginning of the month.

According to research by the data-tracking website, the number of daily active users dropped from 49 million to 23.6 million in a week, indicating that people who dashed to sign up are not frequent visitors. As per the outlet, which only analyzes Twitter's Android app usage, Elon Musk-owned Twitter had roughly 107 million users on July 14. According to the study, Threads has a readership of around 22% the size of Twitter. Following its introduction on July 5, Zuckerberg boasted last week that his app had been downloaded more than 100 million times. Since then, he has been noticeably quiet, as per New York Post.

Has 'Twitter-killer' Threads lost its charm?

The barons are reportedly preparing to engage in a cage match combat as the internet titans are at war over competing apps. Furthermore, Musk's legal team has threatened to file a lawsuit against Meta for allegedly stealing trade secrets by rehiring former Twitter employees. But if Threads keeps going in the same direction, that might not be such a big deal.

Not only are fewer users using Threads, but those who do seem to be reading through their feeds less frequently. According to the data from the source, users used the app for six minutes on July 14 as opposed to 21 minutes on July 7. The average time reportedly spent on Twitter when Threads' popularity peaked was around 25 minutes. Even on Threads' busiest days, Twitter's daily active users were "virtually unchanged," even though time spent on the Musk-owned site was down 4.3%.

The group claimed that Threads "needs to offer a compelling reason to switch from Twitter or start a new social media habit with Threads" because it is "missing many basic features." Meta CEO Zuckerberg, however, was unaffected by the findings and reiterated his confidence in the website. "Early growth was off the charts, but more importantly 10s of millions of people now come back daily," he said. "It'll take time to stabilize, but once we nail that then we'll focus on growing the community. We've run this playbook many times (FB, IG, Stories, Reels, etc.) and I'm confident Threads is on a good path too."

'There’s only ONE Twitter'

Musk has fought against the idea that Twitter's future is in jeopardy. He tweeted a graph on July 14 with the comment, "Platform usage up 3.5% week over week." The 52-year-old billionaire revealed the data a few days after Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino disputed claims that the site's traffic was "tanking" by writing in a post that, "Last week we had our largest usage day since February." She added, seemingly aiming a dig at Threads, "There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it."

It's still too early to say whether Threads will be a success or a failure. The data from the outlet, which excludes Apple users, also showed a decline in Twitter's ability to hold onto new users. After 30 days, the number of new Android users that join up and use Twitter often dropped from 19% in May 2022 to 16% in May 2023. The analytics company discovered that new Instagram users' loyalty remained stable at around 40% over the year, which may be favorable for Threads given its close link with Instagram.

Threads app has several downsides

For users to create a profile on the new app, Threads requires them to have an account on the photo-sharing website. Threads users, however, were not happy to learn they had to delete their Instagram account in order to cancel their Threads account. Twitter's slight usage decline earlier this month was ascribed by the outlet to users testing out Threads. However, this experimentation was short-lived because users found that Threads only had minimal functions, not the "Twitter 2.0" that was expected.