Are you on Threads?
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that Threads has over 175 million monthly active users (MAUs). The social app was designed to challenge its counterpart the Elon Musk-owned X, formerly known as Twitter.
In July 2023, Meta-owned Instagram launched Threads and had 100 million sign-ups in less than five days. However, the number of active users declined significantly after a few months.
One of the reasons why Threads lost traction in its first few months is because of the lack of features, such as keyword search, a fully functional web application, and the ability to support multiple accounts.
However, Meta decided to add these features, alongside trending topics, a chronological feed, and an edit button for all users. Moreover, Meta has been promoting posts from Threads, which fuelled its user growth.
In October 2023, it had about 100 million MAUs, 130 million in February 2023, and over 150 million MAUs in April 2024.
Now that Threads has completed its one year since its launch, its 175 million MAUs show that the app is growing.
Meta has also added two major initiatives: Threads API and open social web (fediverse). Both of these features are expected to further drive the growth of the social platform.
Threads API allows creators, developers, and brands to extend the functionality of the platform by creating their own unique integrations, sharing content with their communities, and managing their presence on the app.
This launch is more generous than X, which abruptly made its API access paid at up to USD 42,000 (AED 154,260) a month. As a result, Microsoft, Sony, and many other companies pulled back from X.
Meta now expects Threads to become the next billion-user social network in its suite of apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
