Just over two weeks ago, the Meta-backed social network was introduced to a response that would make even the most gloomy CEOs smile. Despite what some may consider to be a premature and feature-limited launch, the site drew over 100 million users in the first five days.
The decision to launch as soon as possible may return to haunt Meta. The Wall Street Journal cites Sensor Tower figures that show a reduction in Threads’ daily active user base of close to 70% since its July 7 high.
The average daily time spent using Threads’ Android and iOS applications has decreased from 19 minutes to just 4 minutes, according to research from another analytics company, SimilarWeb. Twitter has a daily active user base of about 200 million, with each user spending an average of about 30 minutes daily on the service.
Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, recently stated that Threads’ early growth was out of this world and well above their expectations. Looking ahead, Zuckerberg noted that the platform’s fundamentals will be improved, and user retention will be a priority.
We’ve used this playbook numerous times (on Facebook, Instagram, Stories, Reels, etc.), and he added: “I’m convinced Threads is on a solid path too.
According to Richard Hanna, a Babson College professor who specialises in social media management, Threads’ decline is a definite sign that users realise they can’t accomplish as much on the app as rival services.
The article also noted that Threads was created on Instagram’s platform and that if users chose to follow the same people they already follow on Instagram, the network might seem uninteresting to them.
In other words, Threads’ promising start has given Meta time to add the functionality it lacks.