SAN FRANCISCO: After a wildly successful first few days, Threads popularity has waned in the weeks since Meta launched its challenge to Twitter, which lives on despite its problems.
The average amount of time people spend on Threads daily has plummeted more than 75 percent since the platform made a rock star debut on July 6, according to data from Sensor Tower, a market analysis firm.
The launch saw sign-ups of more than 100 million users in less than five days, smashing the record of AI tool ChatGPT for fastest-growing consumer app and creating relief and excitement amongst early adopters fleeing Twitter.
Twitter continues to dominate its space as a platform for online comment and news, and Musk “would have to completely destroy it” to drive away its audience for good, according to Silicon Valley investor and analyst Jeremiah Owyang.
“Will Threads kill Twitter? Absolutely not. It’s just not equivalent,” he said.
Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at its launch, though it is not available in Europe because parent company Meta is unsure how to navigate the European Union’s data privacy legislation.
Twitter is thought to have around 200 million regular users but it has suffered repeated technical failures since Tesla tycoon Musk bought the platform last year and sacked much of its staff.
There is little doubt that Threads had a major leg up compared to other wannabe Twitter alternatives.
Several rivals have emerged but most are niche platforms without the capacity to grow at the necessary scale to dethrone Twitter.
