Hi everybody and welcome to another episode of the Elon Musk Podcast where we dissect the complexity of the technology landscape today with a special focus on Meta's newest social media venture, Threads. The application, toted as a Twitter killer, set a record-breaking pace by amassing an oppressive 100 million downloads within just a few days of its US launch on July 5th. Yet it's been a roller coaster of a ride for Threads. Despite its initial success, it
quickly stumbled. And started declining in user engagement in a slew of other challenges. Now we delve into what has been an extraordinary week for threads, from regulatory hurdles barring its availability in the European Union to user complaints about the lack of a chronological feed, which together contributed to a sharp downturn in user activity and time spent on the app.
And on the flip side, we explore Meta's response and what the future might hold for the ambitious project and after the break. We'll dive deep into the factors that led to threads dramatic rise and fall, and what it signifies for the larger tech ecosystem. So stay tuned and we'll be right back with more after this
commercial break. Welcome back, Meta, the tech giant formerly knows in his Facebook has recently seen a sharp downturn engagement on its newest social media platform, Threads. Despite achieving an impressive user base of 100 million within a few days of its launch, according to data provided by NBC News Sensor Tower in Similar Web, the ambitious project, designed as a direct competitor to Twitter, hit the ground running when it launched in the
United States on July 5th. Now, within a week of its debut, user engagement had noticeably plummeted. An expert suggests that the botch roll out and met his attempt to repackage a familiar concept. May have inadvertently damaged the app's chances of longterm success. The analytics from Sensor Tower indicated 20% decrease in daily active users between Saturn and the subsequent Tuesday and Wednesday, mere few days apart.
And on top of that, the average time spent on the platform halved, going from 20 minutes to about 10 minutes. Now. Similar webs data painted an even starker picture. Recording a 25% drop in daily active users from its peak on July 7th to the following Monday, all average usage time nose dived over 50% from 20
minutes to under 8 minutes. Now despite these concerning figures, Meta spokesperson sought to reassure skeptics in an e-mail to Gizmodo expressing the company's excitement over threads initial success stating while it's early days were excited about the initial success of Threads. Which has surpassed our expectations.
We launched the app just over a week ago and our focus now is on ensuring stable performance, delivering new features and continuing to improve the experience in the coming months. Now further complicating the platform's debut is the fact that Threads is currently unavailable in the European Union due to regulatory concerns. This has not stopped eager users from attempting to gain access via VPN's, only to encounter difficulties with Notifications
content. And profiles not loading correctly and in response Meta has now started blocking EU users from accessing threads via VPN. According to reports from Engadget. Meta stressed that the EU is an important market, but confirmed that extra measures were being taken to restrict users in the region from accessing the platform. Nevertheless, Metas Threads has seen an unprecedented influx of users. The record setting pace of downloads outstripped even the fastest growing apps in history.
Leaving platforms such as Chant, GBT, and The Dust. Unfortunately, this initial success was swiftly marred by several hiccups. Primarily, users have reported dissatisfaction with the feed on the app, and despite the convenient feature of porting Instagram followers to Threads, users found their feed cluttered with seemingly random posts from celebrities, brands, and influencers. This apparent lack of control over the feed and the overly
complex algorithm. To prioritize the blend of followed and recommended content over a straightforward chronological timeline spurred widespread ridicule across the digital sphere and may have been the catalyst for the sharp drop
in user engagement. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for threads as an apolitical, friendly place has also come under scrutiny, though, especially since deleting threads necessitates the removal of a user's entire Instagram account, an aspect that has not gone down well with a bunch of users. Furthermore, the lack of a desktop client it launched was another glaring omission that may have contributed to the steep fall in usage time.
The introduction of a desktop client potentially bolster the amount of time users spend on threads. Now, despite these setbacks though, there is a hope yet for threads. Recent improvements to the apps algorithm have begun to yield a more personalized and relevant feed for users. Nevertheless, the damage has already been done, the disappointing initial user
experience. Might have been enough to deter a significant portion of its user base permanently, and even though Threads has accrued A formidable initial user base, the rushed launch and subsequent lackluster user experience may have critically hampered its potential.
An inferior product, regardless of a seemingly friendly user base and attractive design can ill afford to compete with an even dwindling Twitter. It remains to be Seed of Meta's efforts to rectify these issues can pave the way for Threads
long term success. Threads has made a formidable entry into the social media landscape, positioning itself as a formidable challenger to Elon Musk's Twitter, which reported approximately 240 million monetizable daily active users as of July. And according to the most recent public filing, prior to Musk's acquisition in 2022, those people were monetized. Now, several data tracking platforms have recorded a decline in Twitter's traffic in
recent months. Similar web reported an 11% year over year drop in Twitter traffic on July 6th and 7th of 2023. Now Arc Invest, a longstanding supporter of Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned in a Monday note that Threads could become a powerful competitor to Twitter. The firm pointed not only to the rapid growth of Threads user base, but also it's considerable engagement with the platform reporting approximately 95 million threads, nearly 200,000,000 likes. The first day alone now, they
said. Leveraging Instagrams, infrastructure and social graphs with a sleek interface and hints of decentralization at a time when Twitter was being criticized for limiting activity to eat out and eliminate bots, can prove to be a smart marketing entry strategy. Now, they also said, while Meta deserves praise for the most successful online platform launch in history.
Only time will reveal if Threads will replicate Stories, victory over Snapchat, or suffer Real's fate as a secondary player to TikTok. I want to say thank you so much for listening to the show today. If you enjoyed it, please take a second and hit the subscriber follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're on right now greatly helps the show So, so much, so thank you for doing that. And as always, please take care of yourself and each other and I will see you in the next one.