User Engagement Plummets on Meta’s Threads Amidst Celebrity and Brand Exodus
Meta’s much-touted social network Threads, initially hailed as a “Twitter killer” during its summer launch, is now facing a severe decline in user engagement, with traffic plummeting by over 80%.
Prominent brands and celebrities, including the National Football League, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Madison Square Garden, have either drastically reduced their activity or ceased posting on the platform entirely.
Threads garnered considerable attention when it first launched in July, amassing 100 million users in a short time, largely due to automatic account generation for Instagram users. However, daily active users have dwindled from a peak of 49.3 million in July to a mere 8.6 million, representing an 82% decline.
The decline in traffic has prompted Meta to brainstorm strategies to revitalize the platform, particularly as high-profile figures like Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith have joined Threads but posted sparingly.
To address this, Meta has reached out to influencers and creators, like Emily Austin, inviting them to events to boost engagement on the platform.
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has emphasized Threads as a “positive, friendly place for discussion” focused on avoiding hard news and controversy. This approach, however, has led to criticism that the platform is becoming boring.
The decline in Threads’ user engagement adds an intriguing dimension to the rivalry between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who owns X, formerly known as Twitter.
Musk has publicly criticized Threads, referring to it as “Instagram minus pics,” while Zuckerberg maintains that Threads is off to a good start and aims to be a “more positive” space for discussion.
The future of Threads remains uncertain as Meta navigates these challenges in its efforts to retain and grow its user base.
