One week of Threads: Meta’s Twitter-killer app breaks records to pass 109 million users in its first 7 days – but are people actually using it after signing up?
- Threads amassed a record-breaking 100million users just five days after launch
- While it’s missing several features, even Twitter users have praised the new app
- But will Threads have lasting power? MailOnline reviews its current successes
It’s been just one week since Meta unleashed its new Threads app to the world.
By the end of day one, Threads had already amassed a record-breaking 70 million signups – rocketing to more than 100 million by day five.
And although it’s missing numerous features, including the ability to delete an account, many have voiced their praise for the so-called ‘Twitter-killer’ app.
This even includes Elon Musk’s own workforce despite the ongoing tensions between the tech titan and Mark Zuckerberg.
But will Threads have lasting power? MailOnline looks back at the ground-breaking launch of Threads and what the future holds.
Meta’s Threads amassed a record-breaking 100 million users just five days after launching
As Quiver Quantitative estimates that 109 million users have now signed up to Threads, it’s clear this launch is like no other seen before.
TIME IT TOOK PLATFORMS TO REACH ONE MILLION USERS
Threads: Around 24 hours
Twitter: Two years
Facebook: Ten months
Instagram: Two and a half months
ChatGPT: Five days
TikTok: Hours
Meta’s first platform, Facebook, took four and a half years to reach the same milestone of 100 million users – reaching this in 2008.
Instagram achieved this twice as fast, taking two and a half years after its 2010 launch, according to the World of Statistics.
But, alongside ChatGPT and TikTok, this pales in comparison to Threads – with the latter reaching 100 million in two and nine months respectively, Frances24 suggests.
Meanwhile, Twitter took two years to reach a mere one million users before rocketing to 151 million by 2012 – more than five years after its launch.
If Threads continues to grow at its current rate, signups could reach 200million by the end of next week.
But in the face of heightened success, it remains unclear how many new Threads users are consistently active on the platform.
When approached, Meta was unable to confirm this, stressing the latest figure for sign-ups was 100 million.
This raises uncertainty as to whether Threads really is the ‘Twitter-killer’ app it’s been dubbed as, or whether its success will be short-lived.
As Quiver Quantitative estimates that 109 million users have now signed up to Threads, it’s clear this launch is like no other seen before
Some Threads users have now gone back to Twitter, having left the app behind just days after trying it out for the first time.
Some Threads users have now gone back to Twitter, having left the app behind just days after trying it out for the first time.
These users are unable to delete their new Threads accounts too – unless they are also willing to sacrifice their Instagram profiles.
READ MORE: Threads confirms it is working on a MAJOR update
Threads has confirmed that a major update will soon be available
This is because both accounts are largely interconnected and Meta is yet to develop a feature which separates them.
One user wrote: ‘I think sign ups / users will be quite different to active users. Lots of people signing up to see what it’s all about (but then can’t delete account w/o deleting insta). Very much set mine up as a back up to Twitter.’
They later added: ‘Exactly, signed up to Threads day one. But already back to using Twitter as my main app. Until Threads has some decent search/trending topic/ personal feed – it’s just not on par with Twitter.’
Another said: ‘Decided I don’t like Threads. Finding it hard to find reasons to open the app. Maybe it’s who I’m following there, not sure. What you sayin?’
Business of Apps claims that Twitter had an average of 401 million users in 2022 while Instagram had more than 2.2 billion.
Jake Moore, Global Security Advisor at ESET told MailOnline: ‘It is natural to get swooped up in the excitement and hype of a well publicised app and have a look around but only the true fans will stay around, especially with so many other social media apps to compete with in terms of attention.
‘Being a Twitter replacement has its own corner of the market but it will be a while before we learn how many people have been active daily users.’
MailOnline has approached Twitter for comment.
TWITTER VS THREADS: HOW THE PLATFORMS COMPARE
Owner: Elon Musk
Post length: 280 characters with a normal account or up to 25,000 with paid-for Twitter Blue
Photo: One to four in each tweet
Video: Up to two minutes and 20 seconds in length
Verification cost: $8.00/£9.60 on the web and $11.00/£11.00 on iOS and Android
Messaging: Yes
Hashtags: Yes
Trending posts: Yes
Account deletion: Users must enter a deactivation stage first which lasts 30 days. If the account is not accessed in this time window, it will be permanently deleted.
THREADS
Owner: Mark Zuckerberg
Post length: 500 characters
Photo: Up to ten in a single thread
Video: Up to two minutes and 20 seconds in length
Verification cost: $11.99/£9.99 on the web and $14.99/£11.99 on iOS and Android
Messaging: No
Hashtags: No
Trending posts: No
Account deletion: While a profile can be temporarily deactivated on the app, permanently deleting it requires sacrificing Instagram too. Instead, Instagram’s guidance suggests that ‘you can always delete individual posts’, set a profile as private or just block other users.
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