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Threads, the social media app launched by Meta as a Twitter alternative, finds itself in a tight spot as its active user base has dropped by a staggering 70% since its peak on July 7, 2023, according Forbes.
The decline in user engagement has been drastic, with Threads now having approximately 13 million daily active users, a sharp decrease from the 44 million it boasted on July 7.
Moreover, the average time spent on the app has plummeted from 19 minutes to a mere four minutes since its launch.
The disappointing performance comes in stark contrast to Meta’s ambitious goal of rivaling Twitter, which currently boasts around 200 million daily active users, spending an average of 30 minutes on the platform each day.
Sensor Tower’s report highlights some possible reasons for Threads’ struggles. Notably, Threads lacks some significant features that Twitter offers, such as desktop functionality and the ability to search for topics beyond just users.
The app had a promising start, reporting 100 million sign-ups within a week after its launch on July 5. This surge in early sign-ups was likely influenced by the popularity of Meta’s other social media platform, Instagram, which boasts over 2 billion monthly users.
Despite Threads’ initial success, Twitter’s web traffic only experienced a minor 5% dip in the first two days after Threads’ launch, as per the Journal. However, Sensor Tower hasn’t observed any significant changes in Twitter’s traffic since then.
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been vocal about Threads’ ambitions to capture the massive market enjoyed by Twitter. He expressed his vision of creating a public conversations app with over 1 billion users, aiming to provide what he believes Twitter hasn’t fully achieved.
Earlier in July, Twitter’s attorney threatened to sue Meta, accusing the company of stealing its trade secrets and intellectual property by hiring former Twitter employees to develop Threads—an accusation Meta denies.
As Threads grapples with the decline in active users and user engagement, it remains to be seen how Meta will strategize and innovate to compete effectively with Twitter in the highly competitive social media landscape.