Threads, which was designed to replace Twitter, is struggling to maintain its user base and engagement levels, according to recent reports. While the platform got off to an impressive start, reaching 150 million users, the number of daily active users and engagement has halved.
Threads usage rate halved on Android
Similarweb reports that Threads peaked at 49 million active users. In just one week, however, this number has dropped significantly to 23.6 million users. This is only 20 per cent of Twitter’s active users.
There are many reasons why Threads has experienced such a rapid decline. But one of the biggest factors seems to be that Threads is not available in Europe, which limits its user base. Many users also say that the platform is “useless”.
Threads, is speeding up the introduction of Direct Messaging (DM) functionality, a move that's making waves.
The average time spent on Threads started at 21 minutes in the week of its launch. However, this dropped sharply to 6 minutes. On the days when Threads attracted the most attention, Twitter’s active users remained almost unchanged, dropping by only 4%. By leveraging Instagram’s existing user base, Threads still lacks many key features such as messaging.
It should be noted that this is not Instagram’s fault. According to recent reports, Instagram remains the leader in this regard, with a user retention rate of nearly 40 percent.
Also, leaked internal notes indicate a quicker-than-expected arrival of Instagram DMs and associated features on Threads. This news signals a potential boon for the platform. It means users eager for private discussions wouldn’t have to switch apps to get their messages across.
