Threads shakes things up
Wednesday afternoon, Meta turned the social media landscape upside down. In less than two hours, the company reported that its new app, Threads, reached 2 million users. Now, after just a few short days, that number has climbed even higher, with notable celebrities and influencers migrating to the platform.
That has ruffled some feathers at Twitter. Twitter, owned now by Elon Musk, is filing lawsuits and taking aim at Meta’s new app.
With all the speculation and punditry around the latest piece of social media, we check in with how Americans are reacting to Threads in five charts below.
- Context setting. Threads reached one million users far quicker than other apps. ChatGPT, the latest app to take the country by storm, took five days to reach one million users; Threads took less than two hours, according to Meta. Other apps, many released prior to smartphones being widely available, took far longer to climb to these heights. The question remains, will the momentum slow?
- Instagram vs. Twitter. More people use Instagram than Twitter. Beyond that, people who follow celebrities and self-describe as a “creator” are more likely to use Instagram than Twitter. What about the news-crazed among us—what Twitter is known for? Well, they are certainly on Twitter, but not exclusively; many also use Instagram. Bad sign for Twitter? We will see.
- Reputational rupture. Five times more Americans feel Twitter more than Instagram is dominated by extreme and unpleasant people. Almost twice as many people say Instagram is more fun to use than Twitter. For Twitter, with an Instagram-adjacent rival nipping at its heels, this is a tough reputational spot to be in.
- Grass is greener? Will Twitter users jump ship, just incorporate the new app into their media diet, or ignore Threads altogether? In polling Ipsos conducted directly after the Threads’ release, a majority of Twitter account holders say they are likely to try Threads in the next few weeks, nearly twice as many as Americans overall. Twitter users are interested.
- Migration. Even if Twitter users download Threads, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will leave Twitter for good. Even so, just under half of all Twitter users say they will likely move the activity they used to do on Twitter to Threads over the next few weeks. Will there be follow through? Stay tuned.
Threads turned the social media world upside down in a remarkably brief period of time. As users are scrambling onto the app, business leaders, media personalities, and other social media apps scramble to figure out what to do next. It’s clear that Americans are curious about Threads.
What will the fate of Threads be as the weeks go on? What will happen to Twitter now that there is a new kid in town? We will see.
