Meta’s Threads Set to Hit 200 Million Monthly Active Users: Mark Zuckerberg
- ByStartupStory | August 1, 2024
Meta’s Threads is on the verge of reaching 200 million monthly active users (MAUs), according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who made the announcement on July 31. This milestone underscores the rapid growth trajectory of the social app designed to rival Elon Musk-owned X, formerly known as Twitter.
By hitting this mark, Threads will have doubled its user base from 100 million MAUs reported in October 2023. In just about a year since its launch, the app now boasts nearly one-third of X’s 600 million user base.
“We’re making steady progress towards building what looks like it’s going to be another major social app. We’re seeing deeper engagement and I’m quite pleased with the trajectory here,” Zuckerberg stated during the company’s earnings call on July 31.
Meta-owned Instagram launched Threads in July 2023 and quickly achieved 100 million sign-ups in less than five days, making it the fastest-growing consumer product in the world.
Despite an initial surge in users, the app’s usage significantly declined in the following months due to the absence of several basic features common on social platforms. These included keyword search, a fully functional web application, and the ability to support multiple accounts.
However, Meta swiftly addressed these shortcomings by adding these features to Threads, along with others such as trending topics, a chronological feed, and an edit button for all users at no additional cost. These enhancements led to a rebound in usage and downloads of the app. Meta’s promotion of Threads posts on its Instagram platform has also likely contributed to the app’s growth.
In July, just ahead of the app’s first anniversary, Zuckerberg revealed that Threads had over 175 million MAUs, up from over 150 million MAUs in April.
The Meta chief envisions Threads becoming the next billion-user social network within Meta’s suite of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that reaching 1 billion users is still “multiple years” away.
“That’s something that is a little bit different about Meta in the way we build consumer products and the business around them than a lot of other companies that ship something and start selling it and making revenue from it immediately… There is a multi-year time horizon between scaling them into not just consumer experiences but very large businesses,” Zuckerberg explained.
He emphasized that Meta has been building the company for 20 years and that there are “just not that many opportunities that come around to grow a 1 billion person app.”
In June, Meta launched two major initiatives—Threads API and open social web (fediverse)—to further drive the growth of the social platform.
The Threads API, introduced in June, enables third-party developers, creators, and brands to extend the platform’s functionality by building unique integrations, managing their Threads presence at scale, and sharing content with their communities. This move followed Twitter’s (now X) decision to stop offering free access to its API in February 2023, introducing new paid APIs costing up to $42,000 a month.
This change led several companies, including Microsoft and Sony, to reduce their Twitter/X integrations, with some firms shutting down third-party clients over the past year.
Additionally, Threads’ open social web rollout to over 100 countries in June allows users to share their posts to other federated platforms powered by the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon. This rollout marks Threads as Meta’s first app to be compatible with rival services, enabling broader community interaction and providing users with more control over their data and the option to transfer their content to another service in the future.
In May, Threads introduced a TweetDeck-like interface with pinned columns for all its web users, aiming to attract more power users. This interface allows users to pin separate columns for favorite searches, tags, accounts, saved posts, and notifications. The social app is also testing a similar experience with select users on its iOS app.
Overall, Zuckerberg reported that more than 3.2 billion people use at least one of Meta’s apps daily.
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