Meta's Threads: Where things stand one year after launch

Mark Zuckerberg's answer to Twitter continues to add features amid a crowded landscape

Threads hit 5 million users hours after launching and gained more than 100 million users in less than a week. EPA

One year after what was arguably one of the most talked about technology launches in recent tech history, Meta's Threads, widely seen as an alternative to Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter), continues to grow and add features as users still try to figure out exactly what to post on the platform.

“It hasn't carved out a niche, in terms of giving itself a unique brand identity, a purpose in the social media ecosystem,” said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and analyst.

Mr Navarra, however, said that by any objective standard, with about 150 to 170 million active users and growing, Threads has probably exceeded the expectations of those inside Meta when the platform launched.

“It's growing fast,” he said. “It has all the core features you'd expect from a platform that's trying to be similar to X … it has likes, it has reposts, it has GIFs, image and video attachments and topic tags.”

Threads launched on July 5, 2023, amid a mounting backlash from Mr Musk's acquisition of Twitter. The entrepreneur and space tycoon made significant changes, including largely eliminating the platform's content moderation teams, rolling back verified accounts for prominent users and journalists, ending free API access, and reinstating various accounts previously banned for violating hate-speech policies and other rules.

Meta, still reeling from various user-data and disinformation controversies, managed to fill the vacuum created by Mr Musk's moves at Twitter. Just hours after Threads was available on iPhone and Android devices, 5 million users created accounts on the platform.

In less than one week, Threads broke records and announced that more than 100 million users had given the platform a try.

Mr Navarra points out that some of that success, can be traced back to Meta's decision to easily give Instagram users access to Threads (Instagram is owned by Meta), making for a seamless and expedited account creation process.

“That gave it a rocket-fuelled launch which took them to more than 150 million active users within the first nine months,” he said.

That decision, however, delayed the launch of Threads in the EU, and prompted tweaks by Meta to decouple the app somewhat from Instagram to comply with EU rules.

Similarly, Meta recently withdrew Threads in Turkey, after regulators in the country accused the app of violating data sharing policies due to the app's tie-in with Instagram.

Regardless, with Threads now available in most countries, Mr Navarra said that the platform has managed to provide the nearest global alternative to X, even if it has not matched X's approximately 550 million active users.

“We're not seeing X grow any more, it's plateaued and in some markets it's shrinking,” he said, noting that advertisers have begun to wince at the idea of advertising on the platform amid reports of increased hate speech and vitriolic content.

“Threads, however, is still growing,” he added.

Despite that growth, however, Mr Navarra points out that Threads still doesn't have an ad platform layer that allows for brands to advertise and in turn, give Meta another revenue stream, at least not yet.

“We're seeing rumours that they're talking with agencies and layering on an ad platform later this year,” he said.

While surviving one year in the app or platform marketplace might seem like a forgone conclusion, recent efforts by other much-hyped projects has shown that building and sustaining user interest is easier said than done. Success is far from guaranteed.

Back in 2020, despite ample funding and the backing of film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP chief executive Meg Whitman, the short-video based streaming app Quibi survived less than one year.

There was also Post, which like Threads, touted itself an alternative to X and debuted to much hype, only to fail to grow beyond 500,000 users. Post recently shut down in April, with its founder acknowledging that the platform was not scaling fast enough to rationalise additional investments.

The most recent flex from Threads was the addition of Fediverse functionality. In short, integrating the Fediverse option into Threads made it possible for users have their posts also appear on decentralised social media platforms like Mastodon.

Threads also recently announced the availability of the platform's API, which allowed for scheduling and creating posts by way of third-party applications – a major boost for people and organisations wishing to publish their posts and schedule the output of their content.

Yet when it comes to news content on Threads, one of the areas that helped build X into a social media powerhouse, Meta has taken more of a cautious approach over the last year.

“Meta has made a strategic decision not to lean heavily into political content or news content, which has often been seen as the beating heart of X,” said Mr Navarra. “It does hamper [Threads] ability to to give people a viable alternative to X.”

Mr Navarra is referring to comments made back in 2023 by Meta's Instagram and Threads lead, Adam Mosseri, in exchange with The Verge's deputy editor Alex Heath, where he acknowledged a lack of emphasis on news.

“Politics and hard news are inevitably going to show up on Threads – they have on Instagram as well to some extent – but we're not going to do anything to encourage those verticals,” he posted on Threads.

“Politics and hard news are important, I don't want to imply otherwise. But my take is, from a platform's perspective, any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let's be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them,” he added.

That decision, according to Mr Navarra, combined with a very saturated social media platform marketplace, have made it difficult for many to decide exactly how to use Threads and what to use it for.

“This is a challenge they need to overcome,” he said. “It hasn't really done anything drastically different from any other platform.”

Another element which may factor into the potential future, long-term success of Threads, is the creator and influencer community, which has come to define the social media experience for so many.

Meta has slowly increased the amount of analytics users on Threads can see to best determine how posts are performing, a critical aspect for many of those who seek to financially capitalise on their posts.

Throughout the platform's first year of existence, multiple media outlets and social content creators have reported that Threads has paid various creators hundreds of dollars for posts that have performed well.

“There have been limited creative bonuses and campaigns to drum up usage and interest,” said Mr Navarra, reflecting on his own reporting and sources. “But I'm still not seeing a huge amount of interest or time spent by big-name creators on the platform in the same way that you see them doing a lot of business on YouTube,” he added.

Threads is also finding itself competing for the attention of users already consumed by TikTok, Instagram, and even to some extent, career-based social networking platforms like LinkedIn.

In a recent interview with The National, entrepreneur and social media content guru Gary Vaynerchuk didn't mention Threads when he talked about his most recent book, which explains to readers various strategies for seven social media platforms they should care about.

“Every four to seven years, something has a real shot,” he said, when asked about the potential saturation of the social media platform sector, and the likelihood of a new venture's success.

“If you hit it, it's as lucrative as it gets,” he added, noting the potential upside of starting a new social network.

Regardless, one year later, Meta shows no sign of slowing down new features for Threads, and it keeps adding users.

To commemorate the platform's birthday, Meta rolled out a several new icons users can temporarily use in the Threads app.

"We're celebrating by giving you new app icons designed by people in the Threads community," reads the special birthday section of Threads.

Also coinciding with the anniversary of the social platform, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads crossed the 175 million active monthly user mark.

"What a year," he posted to Threads.

While the platform is still finding its footing in the overall social media landscape, Mr Navarra said the last year of improvements have shown a resiliency and dedication to the platform from Meta.

“I think Meta is probably really happy with how Threads has been growing,” he said, while also reflecting on the sometimes fickle nature users and social platform popularity.

“It's still evolving so it's hard to know where it will land,” he said.