Threads App Users Reducing Usage
Meta’s Threads app, which experienced unprecedented growth during its first week, is now experiencing a decline in engagement, according to recent data from SimilarWeb. Despite its record-breaking growth, the app’s initial high levels of engagement have decreased.
In Threads, the number of daily active users decreased from 49 million on July 7 to 23.6 million on July 14, SamaWeb writes in a new report. And in the US, which reportedly has the highest engagement, usage fell from 21 minutes a day to just over six minutes over the same period.
Although LikeWeb cautions that its data is based only on Android usage of Threads, its findings are in line with those of other companies. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported a similar decline in engagement, writing in a report that the app “has experienced double-digit declines in DAUs [daily active users] and user engagement since launch.”
At some level, a drop is expected. Threads was launched at a time when many Twitter users were looking for alternatives, and its ties to Instagram made it extremely easy for users to log in and transcend their existing social graph. At the same time, the app lacks a lot of basic features, including a non-algorithmic feed that brands and influencers can’t easily control.
On Friday in Threads, Instagram’s top executive Adam Mosseri suggested that the company wasn’t particularly focused on engagement metrics at this point. “Right now our focus is not on commitment, which has been amazing, but on going beyond the initial peak and trough we see with each new product and building new features, improving performance and improving ranking,” he wrote.
However, whether or not Meta can take full advantage of these conditions will likely depend on how quickly it can add new features to keep users coming back, as well as whether it can launch within the European Union. The company is also dealing with issues related to spam, according to Mosser, who said Threads puts rate limits and other safeguards in place. “Spam attacks have increased, so we need to tighten things like speed limits, which means unintentionally throttling active people (false positives),” he wrote.
While waning engagement with Threads may seem like good news for Twitter, the company still has plenty to worry about its latest competitor. As LikeWeb’s Senior Insights Manager David Carr writes, there are “some indications” that at least some of Threads’ engagement has come at the expense of Twitter. “During the first two full days that Threads was generally available, Thursday and Friday, web traffic to twitter.com was down 5% compared to the same days last week, and Android app usage over time was down 4.3%,” says Carr. He also notes that “Twitter user retention has been on the decline” since last year.
