Threads May Have Over 150 Million Downloads But User Engagement is Crashing With Time Spent Down 50%

Meta’s Threads app, a promising rival to Twitter, catapulted to a whopping 150 million downloads within days of its launch – but now Threads’ initial success is in question.

It has emerged the app is facing an alarming trend: user engagement is plummeting, with time spent on the app down by 50%.

Analysts are highlighting this puzzling contrast as evidence of an uncertain future for the emerging platform.

The Rise and Decline of Meta’s Threads App

Launched to rival Twitter, Threads saw an explosive initial surge in user sign-ups, reaching the 100 million mark in just five days, however, the engagement numbers soon started to dwindle.

InsiderIntelligence and Similarweb’s analytics data revealed a 20% drop in daily active users and a 50% decline in time spent on the app within a week post-launch.

Worse still, despite initial success in India and Brazil, the EU data protection laws have further complicated matters as Threads was blocked in the region due to possible regulation violations.

And while the initial curiosity may have driven a surge in downloads, the subsequent user engagement crash underscores the struggle new platforms face in maintaining interest and habituating users to their interface.

This is especially significant for Threads, as user retention is crucial for Meta’s goal of turning the app into its latest advertising platform, as the Threads vs Twitter battle heats up.

Can Threads Emerge as a Threat to Twitter?

Despite these hurdles, Threads’ potential to rival Twitter shouldn’t be discounted.

The app seems to have drawn some engagement away from Twitter, with a 5% decrease in Twitter’s web traffic reported during Threads’ peak activity period.

That’s a potential loss of nearly $75 million in worldwide advertising revenues for Twitter this year, and a projected $140 million in 2024.

Threads’ user retention strategy hinges on offering users a compelling value proposition, refining its features, and carving out a distinct identity from platforms like Twitter.

But Threads’ current situation resonates with a familiar pattern for new platforms: a promising start followed by a struggle to maintain user interest.

Threads vs Twitter: The Struggle for User Retention

Despite a strong start with daily active users peaking at 49 million, the numbers fell to 23.6 million within a week.

The time spent by US users on the app also plummeted from 21 minutes on the peak day to just over 6 minutes a week later.

Yet, the app’s direct integration with Instagram accounts could potentially play a key role in retaining users, allowing them to create a Threads account instantly with their existing contacts.

Despite being in its early stages, Threads shows potential as a serious contender to Twitter, with its immediate future depending on how it develops its value proposition and features.

Yet the concern of analysts remains: the soaring download numbers contrasted with the plunging user engagement presents an interesting paradox for Meta’s Threads app.

Only time will tell whether Threads can surmount its initial hurdles to evolve into a platform that can not only match, but also surpass Twitter.

The numbers, for now, are inconclusive, making the future of Threads an exciting narrative to watch unfold.

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