Threads Fails to Gain Momentum as Twitter Rival

Despite its initial success, Threads popularity has declined in the weeks following Meta’s launch of its challenge to Twitter, which continues to thrive despite its issues.

The average amount of time people spend on Threads each day has dropped more than 75 percent since the platform’s rock star debut on July 6, according to data from market analysis firm Sensor Tower.

Threads was quickly counted as the potential death knell for Twitter, a platform that has descended into chaos under mercurial Tycoon Elon Musk.

Launch More than 100 million users signed up in less than five days, shattering AI tool ChatGPT’s record for fastest-growing consumer app and creating relief and excitement among early adopters fleeing Twitter.

“I actually closed my Twitter account after I launched Threads,” said Brooklyn-based Lauren Brose, director of marketing for the tech startup.

“I loved Twitter. When Elon Musk took over Twitter, I found the whole environment completely changed.”

But weeks later, Threads has since seen a “substantial drop in new registrations,” Sensor Tower said.

According to Silicon Valley investor and analyst Jeremiah Owyang, Twitter still dominates its space as a platform for online commentary and news, and Musk “would have to destroy it completely” to drive his audience away for good.

“Will Threads kill Twitter? Absolutely not. It’s just not the same,” he said.

Threads was released in the Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at the time of its launch, although it is not available in Europe because parent company Meta is unsure how to navigate EU data protection laws.

Twitter is believed to have around 200 million regular users, but has suffered frequent technical glitches since Tesla Tycoon Musk bought the platform last year and laid off much of its staff.

Musk, also the boss of SpaceX, has alienated users by introducing fees for previously free services and allowing banned right-wing accounts back on the platform.

There’s no doubt that Threads had a big leg up on other wannabe Twitter alternatives.

Several competitors have emerged, but most are niche markets that lack the ability to grow at the scale necessary to displace Twitter.

But Meta could easily encourage Instagram users to set up Threads accounts and take advantage of the at least one billion users on the image-centric social network.

Not on the news?

According to Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg, Threads has a lot to prove and add to make it a great Twitter alternative.

It needs to encourage creators to engage users and find their own identity separate from Instagram and Twitter, Enberg said.

“With Twitter in disarray, their brilliant move was to use Instagram’s existing social graph for a quick and seamless deployment,” Owyang said of Threads.

The downside is that it’s not the user base you “want to chat with or microblog,” he added.

Owyang pointed out that Instagram users generally use the service for photos or videos, not for commenting or controversy.

“There’s a very different crowd on Instagram,” Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said of the comparison to Threads.

Twitter is known as a forum for news and politics, topics that Threads is not interested in highlighting, according to a recent message from Threads and Instagram boss Adam Mosser.

Meanwhile, Twitter is seen as the established home for messages from journalists, celebrities, athletes, politicians and more.

Another obstacle to Threads’ growth is that Meta blocks it from the European Union, Milanesi said.

“You’re missing a big part of the market,” he said of Threads’ absence from the EU.

Twitter’s “diaspora”?

People frustrated with Musk-owned Twitter are looking for alternatives, but no competitor has established itself as an ideal alternative.

Twitter quitters have become a sort of “diaspora,” spreading to Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads and other platforms in search of a new social media home, Owyang reasoned.

“A lot of people have left Twitter, and it’s going to continue,” Owyang said.

“But the question is, where are they going? There’s no one centralized place to go.”

The Threads app has been downloaded more than 184 million times worldwide since its launch, according to Data.ai Intelligence.

“But the app hasn’t proven to be fundamentally different from Twitter in terms of features/functionality,” said Abe Yousef, senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower.

“What should dissuade people from staying on Twitter if they’re happy with Twitter’s content policies?” Yousef added.