The social media application has experienced a significant drop in popularity since its launch just last month. It appears that Zuckerberg’s so-called “Twitter killer” might not be poised to shake up the market as initially anticipated.
Instagram’s Threads was introduced to the public on July 5, 2023. Positioned as Instagram’s response to X (formerly known as Twitter), its debut arrived at a particularly advantageous moment.
The transformation of Twitter under Elon Musk’s guidance and its subsequent rebranding has left the platform in a state of chaos. Many users find themselves exasperated by Musk’s controversial leadership approach. It’s widely agreed that Musk’s impromptu decision to replace the platform’s iconic blue bird logo with an ‘X’ serves as a valuable lesson in the pitfalls of business rebranding.
Taking this into consideration, the launch of Threads appeared to be the ideal opportunity for Instagram to seize the market and persuade discontented Twitter users to transition. The app boasted 49 million daily active users on July 7th, giving the impression that everything was proceeding as planned.
Regrettably, the initial excitement seems to have been short-lived. By the end of July, only a few weeks post-launch, Threads experienced an 82% plummet in its user base, down to a more 8 million daily active users. Initially, we held the belief that Threads would create an exciting realm for designers and developers to exchange their work and insights, but now, this prediction is shrouded in uncertainty.
A plausible explanation for Threads’ decline could be its absence of popular features, particularly the capability to send direct messages. Many users are left frustrated due to Threads’ dearth of essential functionality. This situation suggests that Threads might have been launched prematurely, possibly as a tactic to capitalize on the turmoil at Twitter.
Despite the staggering decline in popularity, the owner of Threads, Mark Zuckerberg, maintains an optimistic outlook. He asserts that the community is still “on the trajectory” and expresses his continued anticipation of building a robust, enduring app.
Zuckerberg has plans to gradually introduce new features to enhance the app’s functionality over time. Furthermore, he recently expressed his desire to discover fresh methods of engaging users with Threads. The nature of these intriguing “hooks” remains uncertain. However, if Musk’s trend of questionable decision-making persists, it won’t require much enticement for Threads to recapture the public’s attention once more.
