Meta's text-based conversation app Threads has "just under" 100 million monthly active users in three months after its launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on October 26, highlighting the growth of the app designed as a direct rival to Elon Musk-owned X (previously Twitter).
"I'm very happy with the trajectory. We're now getting to the point where we’re going to be focusing on growing the community further," Zuckerberg said during the company's earnings conference call.
In July, Zuckerberg said that he expects Threads to become the next billion-user social network in its suite of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
During the call, he echoed similar sentiments, saying, "I've thought for a long time that there should be a billion-person public conversations app that's a bit more positive, and I think that if we keep at this for a few more years then I think we have a good chance of achieving our vision there."
For comparison, X owner Elon Musk said in September that the platform has 550 million monthly active users, while CEO Linda Yaccarino said earlier this month that the platform has 225 million daily active users.
Instagram launched Threads in July this year and clocked 100 million sign-ups in less than five days, making it the fastest-growing consumer product in the world. However, its usage has declined significantly in the subsequent months.
This was partly due to Threads' initial feature set, which lacked several basic features, including keyword search, a fully functional web application, and the ability to support multiple accounts. However, in subsequent months, Meta has rapidly added these features to Threads, along with others such as voice posts and an edit button for all users, at no extra cost.
The social networking giant has also committed to adding support for ActivityPub, a decentralised social networking protocol, that will make it interoperable with other apps that also support the protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress.
Meta is also yet to make Threads available in most European countries due to regulatory uncertainty, particularly around the EU's Digital Markets Act.
"I'm hoping we can land support for Europe, early Fediverse progress, better Instagram integrations, and trends in the next few months," Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a post on Threads on October 26.
Also read: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says revenue from Click-to-Message ads in India doubled YoY
The 'X' factor
Threads is among several services, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, that are looking to capitalise on the rising trend of users on X looking to migrate to alternative platforms as the social media platform struggles to cope with the chaos caused under Musk.
Several users have been frustrated by various product and policy changes brought by the tech billionaire to reshape the platform in pursuit of becoming an "everything app".
In recent months, Musk has increasingly placed several key features on the social media platform behind a paywall that were previously available for free and has also shut down others.
The platform is also experimenting with charging new users a fee for basic functions such as the ability to post content, reply, like, repost, bookmark, and quote other accounts' posts, among other features. This pilot program is currently active for new accounts on the web in New Zealand and the Philippines.
A deep integration with Instagram, which boasts 2 billion monthly active users, has provided Threads an edge over its rivals and made it the most credible competition to X.
In July, Zuckerberg said, "Once we feel like we're in a very good place on that, then I'm highly confident that we're going to be able to pour enough gasoline on this to help it grow."
This is evident by the company's recent move to cross-post Threads posts to users' Instagram and Facebook feeds in a bid to boost the app's engagement and increase its reach. After pushback from some users due to the lack of an opt-out option, Threads said they are "listening to feedback...as we continue to build on this."
In a post on Threads on October 25, Mosseri said that they are "exploring an opt-out, but it’s actually helping people get a lot more reach, which seems to be making people happier with Threads, not less happy."
In the third quarter of 2023, Meta reported overall revenue of $34.1 billion for the quarter, registering a 23 percent increase year-on-year (YoY), while the net income jumped 164 percent to 11.6 billion for the quarter.
The company also reported that Facebook's monthly active user base grew 3 percent YoY to 3.05 billion for the quarter, of which 2.09 billion users are daily active users. Meta's overall suite of apps saw its monthly active user base increase 7 percent YoY to 3.96 billion for the quarter, of which 3.14 billion were daily active users.
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