It’s a bit too early to call the Meta launch of Threads a disaster, but it’s definitely hemorrhaging users and failing to capture any real social media momentum.
A recent report suggests the daily active user count has fallen by 79% after one month. There are now only around 11 million people sticking with the new Twitter clone. Daily active users were measured on Android devices based on usage trends, and are typically a reliable indicator of interest. Similarweb data does not include iOS users or web access (since it’s not even possible to access Threads from a browser yet). A recent app update did offer a few minor additions like the ability to share a Thread as an Instagram DM and a way to mention someone in a post.
Mark Zuckerberg has not been in any hurry to roll out major upgrades to the app, presumably because he knows it takes time to build a loyal fanbase. He has said that a search feature and a web version will be coming soon.
There’s something seriously amiss, though. Now is the time to really entice users away from the app formerly known as Twitter. (By the way, everyone I know still calls it that.) Instead, as Threads unravels, Meta seems blissfully unaware.
What needs to happen?
Zuckerberg and co. would be wise to deploy some radically new features, possibly related to video chat or video sharing, while everyone questions whether Twitter can survive under the guidance of a guy who doesn’t seem to know what to do with a company that has existed for almost two decades.
Instead, Threads is so similar to Twitter that there’s no real reason to build up a social media following, and any post you do seems like it is redundant with a far more established platform.
For me, this is all way too tedious.
The few times I’ve checked the app recently, I’ve realized how much work it will be to keep connecting with new people—many of whom I already know from LinkedIn and Twitter. I see posts that are either a duplicate from their other feeds or remarkably similar. I hate babysitting social media apps. It feels like a waste of time, with only a few hundred followers, to find new followers who may decide to find greener pastures themselves or who have already abandoned the app.
What’s really happening here is that we all decided to check out the new app because, in the tech space, you really can’t avoid doing that. You have to kick the tires. While 100 million people decided to try the app at first, many of us had the exact same reaction: more of the same. Twitter with more white space in the app, anyone? And now, a ghost town where there’s nothing fresh or interesting.
The real reason Threads appears to be dying already is that it is not useful. There’s nothing in the app that feels like you have to stick around. Anything innovative has to be new and useful. Threads will require actual work to connect with people, and that’s the last thing we need in a world where everything is a distraction.
The truth is, when everything we do on our phones is one millimeter away from yet another distraction, it’s hard to stay invested in something that doesn’t hold our attention or provide value. Threads was the new kid on the block for about a second. That second has already faded away, it seems.
Forbes
