In this photo illustration, the Threads logo by META is displayed on a smartphone against the background of the Twitter logo. Threads is a new social network of Meta Platforms launched on July 5, 2023.
Omar Marquez | Lightrocket | Getty Images
User traffic on Twitter has slowed since the service launched. meta‘s text-based platform Threads has already surpassed 100 million signups since its debut last week.
Threads launched in the US on Wednesday, and Meta executives including Instagram head Adam Mosseri are touting it as a more positive “public square” for a community that “has been less receptive to Twitter.” So far, users seem to agree.
“We hit 100 million threads last weekend. This is mostly organic demand and we haven’t launched many promotions yet. I can’t believe it’s only been 5 days. !” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post Monday.
Twitter seems to have taken a big hit as well. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince shared a screenshot on Twitter on Sunday showing traffic on the platform was “sluggish.”
according to Similar WebAccording to , , a data company that specializes in web analytics, web traffic to Twitter fell by 5% in the first two days when threads were generally available compared to the previous week. The company said Twitter web traffic dropped 11% compared to the same day in 2022.
Twitter responded to CNBC’s request for comment with an automated response. Mehta had no further comment beyond Zuckerberg’s post.
Threads’ rapid growth is fueled by the fact that it is tied to an existing social network, Meta’s Instagram. A user can sign up using her existing Instagram handle and retain some of the following when other users sign up for the app.
The number of threads reached the 100 million milestone even faster than OpenAI’s generated chatbot ChatGPT, which exceeded 100 million monthly users in two months.
The app still has a lot of room to grow and has yet to launch in Europe, where it still has to navigate regulatory complexities, Mosseri said. If Threads can maintain its user base, it could solidify its position as a true competitor to Twitter. In its final quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company last summer, Twitter reported about 238 million monetizable daily active users.
Twitter owner Elon Musk appears to have already expressed concern over Threads, with his longtime lawyer Alex Spiro writing to Mehta, accusing the company of “illegal misappropriation” of trade secrets. are doing.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Zuckerberg also had a shootout over the weekend, with Mr. Zuckerberg ridiculing Mr. Musk’s tweeting style and Mr. Musk calling Zuckerberg a derogatory term.
