Though Threads “really did ‘break the internet’”, user engagement has dropped off since its record-breaking debut on July 5, according to Anthony Bartolacci, managing director at marketing analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Speaking with CNBC, Bartolacci said that Threads’ daily active users were down about 20% from Saturday, while daily per-user time was down 50%, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
Threads, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), surpassed 100mln users within the first five days of operation, beating the previous record etched out by ChatGPT mere months earlier.
“These early returns signal that despite the hoopla during its launch, it will still be an uphill climb for Threads to carve out space in most users’ social network routine,” Bartolacci said.
“The backing of Meta and the integration with Instagram likely gives Threads a much higher flood than other services, but it will need a more compelling value proposition than simply ‘Twitter, but without Elon Musk.’”
Meanwhile, Twitter users are posting their content monetisation wins after Elon Musk’s revenue-sharing promises appear to have been made good.
A portion of revenues generated from advertisement engagement since February has been distributed to creators, some receiving thousands of dollars, others less.
Thank you @elonmusk I’m literally shaking right now pic.twitter.com/ttGNYGwlvv— greg (@greg16676935420) July 13, 2023
Verified users with at least 5mln impressions per month for the past three months are eligible to take part in the revenue-sharing model.
Meta is also planning to monetise Threads user accounts by porting Instagram’s lucrative branded content model over to the new platform, according to reports.
According to sources, influencers will be able to generate revenues from paid partnerships while Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg mulls the new platform’s advertising strategy.
The fight for user engagement between Threads and Twitter is expected to be a prominent theme in the social media landscape going forward, with each platforms’ revenue models a key battle line.