Image: © AdriaVidal/Stock.adobe.com
Despite surpassing 100m users soon after launch, the future of Threads is now hanging by a thread – but the web app may change that.
After great initial success followed by a plunge in users, Threads is now getting a second boost after Mark Zuckerberg said Meta’s latest social platform will be available on the web.
The announcement was made by Meta yesterday and widely reported by outlets. Zuckerberg also posted an old photo of himself on Threads with the caption: “Actual footage of me building Threads for web. Rolling out over the next few days.”
Linked with Instagram, the app saw rapid success initially, surpassing 100m users less than five days after its release and turning it into one of the most successful launches of all time. By the end of July, this number had been more than halved.
Threads had several benefits supporting its launch, including being linked to Instagram, which has a massive user base of roughly 1.2bn accounts. This gave the new app an easy way to grow quickly, as Instagram users could quickly create a Threads account using their Instagram profile.
The hype, however, died down quickly. In fact, analytics firms claim the app’s daily active users dropped by more than 80pc by 4 August, owing to a lack of features compared to rival X, formerly Twitter, and a host of other reasons.
Reports suggest the experience on Threads web won’t be at parity with the mobile app just yet. For instance, users won’t be able to perform tasks such as edit their profile or send a thread directly to someone’s Instagram DMs.
However, the team is working on making it a better experience. Meta told TechCrunch that Threads is working to add more features to bring it at par with the mobile app. And while Zuckerberg is “quite optimistic” about Threads, the app won’t be monetised anytime soon.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear if Threads will ever launch in Ireland or the EU, as regulatory issues will likely persist for Meta in the future. New regulation in the EU such as the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act will present new challenges for companies like Meta.
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