Threads, Meta Platforms’ latest social media offering, has over 175 million monthly active users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced, ahead of its first anniversary.
The challenger to X (formerly Twitter) appeared on app stores on July 5 last year, just in time to attract users from a chaotic phase Twitter was going through — the appearance of its new owner Elon Musk. In less than a week, Threads had 100 million users, partly because users were allowed to set up their Threads profile using the Instagram app.
Financially, Threads remains a loss as there is no advertising but it can, at some point, give Meta a new avenue to generate funds.
At first, Threads didn’t have a lot of features, but most of these have already been addressed. The platform even has a web version, built-in translation, chronological search, fast switching between accounts, tags, an API, and even integration with the fediverse.
The company says more than 50 million tags have been created, with some of the top ones being PhotographyThreads, BookThreads and GymThreads.
Elon Musk recently claimed that X now reaches 600 million monthly active users and that half of these users use the platform daily but there has been no clarification if the number includes automated accounts or spam bots. The Washington Post reports that Emarketer estimates X had about 56 million users in the US at the end of 2023, compared with 29 million for Threads, a gap that may become slimmer in 2024.
One reason behind the success of Threads could be because it leans away from politics. Americans are paying less attention to political news, according to the Pew Research Centre. The company has long said most people use platforms like Facebook and Instagram more to share updates about their lives and follow creators. X, on the other hand, delves into “citizen journalism” to remain popular but advertisers have had a love-hate time with the platform because of the toxic behaviour of sections of users. Major brands often avoid placing ads near political content.
