Engagement on Threads, a Twitter rival launched by Meta earlier this month, is already falling, according to data from Sensor Tower and Similarweb.
After a debut that broke ChatGPT’s record as the fastest growing platform in history, surpassing 100 million registrations in just five days, the number of active users of the social network dropped 20% this week compared to last Saturday (8) .
In addition, the time spent per person on the app has been cut in half, from 20 to 10 minutes, according to Sensor Tower.
“These first data indicate that, despite the commotion during its launch, it will still be difficult for Threads to gain space in the social networks routine of most users,” Anothony Bartolacci, director of Sensor Tower, told CNBC.
“Meta support and Instagram integration likely give Threads much more traction than other services, but it will need a more compelling value proposition than simply being ‘Twitter but without Elon Musk’.”
Data from Similarweb also point to the same trend. According to the consultancy, Threads had a drop of more than 25% of daily users between the peak of July 7th and this Monday (10th) on Android phones. It still estimates a drop of more than 50% in the time they spent on the app, to just over 8 minutes. The company still does not have data regarding iOS.
“While there was great interest in using the app initially, not every user has gotten into the habit of visiting Threads as often as other social networks,” David Carr, senior manager of insights at Similarweb, told the US broadcaster.
Meta took advantage of the base of more than 2 billion Instagram users to boost its new application —it is possible to access Threads with the same account registered on the social photo network.
Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, when the company released the latest balance sheet. Since the purchase by Musk, the company has closed its capital and no longer discloses this type of information.
Although rivals, each social network has its own peculiarity. Twitter has two timelines, one of which is chronological, with publications only from profiles followed by the user. In Threads, the order is organized by the algorithm, which is based on the interests of the account owner to deliver the publications, as it already works on Instagram, TikTok and even YouTube.
Threads also went live without familiar Twitter features like searching for tweets, lists that let you gather profiles and create custom timelines, and the option to save posts for later viewing.
