Twitter killer 'Threads' reaches 100 million users in five days, becomes fastest-growing app
%2Favatars%2FEwuSxftyWaVt.png&w=96&q=75)
%2F2023%2F07%2F11%2Fimage%2Fjpeg%2FhXlFVPkPn3tFCjLnNqFe8NB7UxLbeNoF474Hhpje.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Much to Elon Musk’s chagrin, Twitter rival Threads has crossed 100 million sign-ups and it’s been just five days since the micro-blogging website was launched.
Launched by Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to Threads to announce that the steep climb to a 100 million was “mostly organic” and without much promotion.
It was only on Friday Zuckerberg announced that the app had crossed 70 million sign-ups, which he said was “way beyond our expectations.”
Climbing up the charts
At the time of writing this article, Threads achieved the highest number of downloads among free apps on Google Play and ranked as the second most downloaded app in the US App Store, as per the data from Sensor Tower.
Threads’ remarkable sprint has been much faster than OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which was launched in November 2022 and shot to 100 million users in January, just two months after its launch. But of course, Threads’ stardom can partly be attributed to how easy it is to sign up for the app. You just need to be one of the 2.35 billion users on Instagram, from where you have a direct line to make an account, private or public, on Threads.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri also took to Threads and said, “100 million people signed up for Threads in five days. I’m not sure I can wrap my mind around that fact. It’s insane; I can’t make sense of it.”
Twitter traffic takes a dive
But there’s more in store that could worry the executives at Twitter. As per the latest traffic data of the platform, it appears that Twitter has taken a hit. CEO of Cloudflare Matthew Prince shared a screenshot which showed that the traffic on the website has been tanking.
Twitter traffic tanking. https://t.co/KSIXqNsu40 pic.twitter.com/mLlbuXVR6r
— Matthew Prince 🌥 (@eastdakota) July 9, 2023
The graph shows that Twitter has dropped from the 32nd spot in January to the 40th spot in July, signaling a drop in visitors.
In the first 48 hours that Threads had gone live, web traffic to twitter.com was down five percent compared with the same days of the previous week, according to a blog by Similar Web, a company specializing in web analytics, web traffic and performance. As a year-over-year comparison, Twitter was down 11 percent compared with last year’s July 6 and 7.
Twitter traffic has experienced an overall decline even in the absence of Threads.
Taking a direct jibe at Threads and also putting on a show of strength, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted saying, “There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it.”
Don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread… but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February. There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it. 🎤
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 10, 2023
Threads to weave a long way ahead
Threads' 100 million sign ups can't be compared to Twitter's active user numbers, which are at approximately 350 million. And Threads has a long way to go in terms of adding key features like hashtags and keyword searches, which would make it more appealing to advertisers. Although Zuckerberg did say that Meta is not looking to monetize Threads just yet.
And Threads hasn't even launched in the 27 European Union nations yet over data privacy regulations.
After a Threads user alleged that Twitter might be censoring Threads from trending on the bird app, Zuckerberg replied with "Concerning."
Twitter owner Musk has already threatened to sue Meta after his lawyer sent a letter to Zuckerberg, alleging that Meta poached former Twitter employees to steal their intellectual property and trade secrets, reported Interesting Engineering.
We reported yesterday that Musk is willing to go one step further in his battle with Zuckerberg. He called the Meta CEO a 'cuck' and dared him to engage with him in a dick measuring contest.
The two have been at loggerheads since June when Musk asked Zuckbergerg to settle the score once and for all in a cage fight, which the latter has agreed to.
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/07/16/image/jpeg/F8I77CKgbsgtRj8BeCGaJHyen1wVreWvlVsyjiGg.jpg "New developments in Alzheimer's treatments")
/2023/10/03/image/jpeg/XOmpahd3EZRoJafQ3wThIGL87T1hz6BhRRMd8KzZ.jpg "Current global energy transition too expensive, warns IMF")
/2023/07/25/image/jpeg/FmiX8wihzsK5QlLyCAvLuWG8mFQPJq6DlJVhmaMW.jpg "Bridging the gap between doctors and medical technology")
/2023/09/11/image/jpeg/FyjoRiLdd9sOj0dytR3WjS3yDS1ON5OKg7bkfRUv.jpg "Life by 2100: nanotech, cybernetics, and commercial space travel")
/2023/10/03/image/jpeg/4qIz3U2ePP7e8RSxzdOyfnvA52yRlXrK6fUr26NW.jpg "These four technologies may be weaponized, warns EU")
/2023/09/02/image/jpeg/kVfib67OvUtCNGT9wiJFzhnr2NjVyYwWpVHsFNXg.jpg "Cleaning tech that makes people want to wash their hands")
/2023/10/03/image/jpeg/coYwL1thKKtmGyUicbtDalfll1J1ZuOiRj835HWf.jpg "The NHL’s oldest player uses this science to stay in the game")
/2023/10/03/image/jpeg/IH2sLprX523uToJouXvVBNHxmuFOHYAKDoeMProm.jpg "NASA: APEP mission to launch three sounding rockets in October")
/2023/10/03/image/jpeg/qBvvLg0sD5bYr60L9NmGEp3pSsN61dV7e86w9dl5.jpg "Historic flight: U-2 Dragon Lady soars with avionics upgrade")
/2023/08/26/image/png/ny1gzL2fwjRLIco8gac58tlSGZKREl4XSp340YAB.png "12 science, tech, and engineering newsletters you need to check out")