Twitter challenger Threads struggles to hold on

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jul 2023 08:48

Though popular at the moment of its launch, Threads has recorded plummeting numbers since.

This photo, taken in New York on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, shows the logo for Meta’s new app Threads, left, and that of Twitter. (AP)

Twitter's challenger recorded a decrease in user activity after being wildly successful the first few days, but still continues to live on.

The amount of time people spent on Threads plummeted more than 75 percent since the launch on July 6, according to data from Sensor Tower, a market analysis firm.

The app was quickly designated as a possible threat to Twitter at the beginning, which supposedly tumbled into chaos after becoming under Elon Musk's leadership.

More than 100 million users signed up in less than five days, which surpassed ChatGPT for the fastest-growing consumer app, and also attracted users who were fleeing Twitter.

"I actually closed down my Twitter account after starting Threads," said Brooklyn resident Lauren Brose, head of marketing at a tech start-up, adding that "I used to love Twitter. After Elon Musk took over Twitter, I found that the entire environment just changed completely."

All eyes on #Threads!👀 pic.twitter.com/QbiYetJL8s
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 6, 2023

Sensor Tower adds that since then, Threads has witnessed a "material decline in new sign-ups."

Silicon Valley investor and analyst Jeremiah Owyang stressed that Twitter would never die unless completely destroyed by Musk, adding "Will Threads Kill Twitter? Absolutely not. It's just not equivalent."

Threads went live in 100 countries on Apple and Android; however, Meta is still unsure how to navigate the EU's data privacy legislation.

That said, Twitter is thought to have up to 200 million regular users, but has suffered repeated technical failures since Tesla tycoon Musk bought the platform last year.