Meta’s microblogging app, Threads, has had an impressive start that could potentially surpass Twitter’s audience and maintain its position at the top.
Last week, Meta Platforms (ticker: META), the parent company of Facebook, launched Threads in over 100 countries. The app quickly gained momentum, attracting millions of users. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared updated metrics, revealing that 100 million users signed up within the first five days. This remarkable achievement makes Threads the fastest-growing app in history to reach the 100 million user milestone, surpassing ChatGPT’s record of approximately two months.
The rapid growth of Threads indicates its potential to overtake Twitter’s user base. Before its acquisition by Elon Musk last year, Twitter reported having 238 million daily users, with 42 million in the U.S.
Zuckerberg has set an ambitious goal for Threads, aiming for “a public conversations app with one billion+ people on it.” While acknowledging that it will take time to achieve this, he expressed confidence in the app’s potential.
Despite the initial success and ambitious goals, skeptics remain. Some compare Threads to the fate of Google+, which experienced initial popularity before fading away. Others highlight the app’s lack of essential features compared to Twitter, such as direct messaging, topical hashtags, and a chronological feed.
However, these concerns may be exaggerated. Meta executives have stated that many missing features are currently under development. Additionally, dethroning the market leader in a social media category is challenging. Twitter’s recent issues under Musk’s leadership, including glitches and unresponsiveness, create an opportunity for Threads to succeed. Perhaps, rather than comparing it to Google+, the launch of Facebook itself serves as a better case study for the potential of Threads.
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Threads: A Pleasurable Social Media Experience
Last week, I reflected on Facebook’s early days and its competition with Friendster, a popular social network that had a significant lead in users. However, Facebook managed to surpass Friendster by focusing on its functionality rather than introducing superior features. Friendster encountered various performance issues, similar to the technical problems currently faced by Twitter.
With the introduction of Threads, Meta has once again showcased the exceptional quality of its infrastructure and engineering capabilities. Despite rapidly scaling to 100 million users, Threads has consistently maintained snappy performance. However, it’s not just the uptime that sets Threads apart; the app’s design itself contributes to a more enjoyable user experience.
One key difference is the de-emphasis of the comparable quote-tweet feature, which is commonly used on Twitter for negative viral interactions. Threads intentionally avoids displaying visible metrics, discouraging angry and outraged responses. Mark Zuckerberg, in a recent post, emphasized the importance of maintaining a friendly environment as Threads expands. He believes that this approach sets Threads apart from Twitter, which he feels did not achieve its full potential.
Within the technology, media, and finance communities, many influential figures have already transitioned to Threads and actively engage with the platform. While the shift among video game and sports accounts has been slower, it is only a matter of time before they follow suit.
It’s not just about the overall numbers; Threads excels in terms of activity and interaction. Despite having just 5% of my Twitter follower base on Threads, I’ve noticed significantly higher engagement and replies on my Thread posts.
At its core, social media is all about reach and influence. No one wants to share content that goes unnoticed. Threads has successfully attracted some of the best creators who have amassed large audiences. This virtuous feedback loop attracts even more users and content creators. Once this momentum gains traction, it will be challenging to halt Threads’ upward trajectory.
In recent conversations, both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg discussed an upcoming “cage match.” When it comes to text-based social media platforms, Zuckerberg is already ahead, leaving Musk on the ropes.
