Social media platform Threads has amassed 175 million active monthly users since being launched by Meta last July, according to the tech giant. Yet despite this apparent success, Threads has struggled to become a meaningful cultural force comparable to Twitter and its controversial successor, X.Â
Beneath the numbers Threads was "but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg's eye" 18 months ago, said Alex Heath on The Verge, but it was delivered just as Elon Musk was "taking a wrecking ball" to Twitter. The launch seemed like a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the chaos that followed Musk's $44 billion Twitter takeover, by offering a less confrontational platform.Â
In April, Business Insider reported that Threads had reached 28 million daily users in the U.S., compared to X's 22 million on its mobile app, based on analysis by data intelligence service Apptopia. But earlier this month, analysis by Sensor Tower found that users are "using it less frequently than other social media platforms," said the Financial Times, despite Threads "promoting posts on sister app Instagram, which provides about two-thirds of its web traffic."Â
That Meta isn't sharing daily user numbers yet, as it does for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is "telling," said Heath. The omission suggests Threads is "still getting a lot of flyby traffic from people who have yet to become regular users."Â
'Failed to convince'Â While 175 million monthly users may sound like a lot, it's a "drop in the bucket" compared with Instagram's 2 billion monthly users and Facebook's more than 3 billion, said Taylor Lorenz at The Washington Post. Crucially, Meta has "failed to convince" content creators to embrace Threads. The "power" of these individuals "has made them darlings of corporate marketing crucial to the launch of new products," and Meta "knows better than most how influential creators can be."Â
Despite the controversy that surrounds TikTok and X, they also "give rise to news and trends that drive conversation," said Hope King at Axios. It's "not yet clear that 'friendly' conversation can create the same kind of spark." |