Hi everybody and welcome back to the show. Today we're going to talk about the resurgence of Meta's threads and the waning influence of the app once known as Twitter. Not Just X Threads was initially released to much fanfare, but couldn't hold on to its user base. Now with a whopping 260 million downloads, it's making a comeback. On the flip side, X is losing its luster and experience a significant decline in users.
Now threads took off like a rocket at launch, amassing a record number of initial downloads. Yet its glitzy start was short lived as users began to drift away, unimpressed by the app's limited features. Not one to back down from a challenge meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg committed to making Threads a more feature rich platform. His promise was to inject life into the app, claiming it was far from being in its final state. Now in line with Uck's pledge, threads underwent a transformation.
The team launched significant updates, including a web version and keyword search, alongside sodler elements like Instagram tagging and Bell notifications for individual thread updates. Now the changes had an immediate impact. Threads began to claw back some of its lost ground, hosting 33 million daily active users and 120 million monthly active users, according to Apptopia's latest data. And user retention improved remarkably, too, signalling
Threads return to prominence. Now, while Threads is surging back to life, the same can't be said for X. The platform has experienced a 12% decline in daily active users and a 28% drop in new downloads since July. Now, the decline isn't limited to the US, though. It's a worldwide phenomenon. X is losing traction across the globe, undermining its reputation as an international social media hub. And web traffic metrics
reinforce this town. In the US alone, X has seen a 15% drop in web traffic, a sign that's pretty ominous for any online platform. And the exact reason for this nose dive remains elusive. But the inconsistent changes under Elon Musk's stewardship are often cited as a contributing factor. Regardless, the future of X hangs in the balance now, though, the Threads team remains small, with about 50 people. They have metas, full backing
and ambition, tons of money. And the organization is keen at integrating Threads more deeply into its larger social media ecosystem to realize this ambition. Threads has been given visible placement within Facebook and Instagram. Features like carousels in the feed and direct links are making Threads more accessible to users
on both of those platforms. And in a recent Instagram Anniversary event in New York, Threads was given prime exposure, underscoring its significance and Meta's future plans. The idea is to familiarize the Instagram community with Threads, nudging them to adopt it with features like Poles in the pipeline, Threads is not
slowing down. They're trying to catch up to the feature set that's on X, and the app is gearing up to become an even more versatile social media platform, taking integration with Meta's other apps to the next level. Although Threads is currently non monetized, that means you cannot make money with the Threads app. If you're a creator that's set to change.
The app will soon become part of Meta's business suite, opening new revenue streams for creators, and recent code exploration reveals that Threads is getting ready to introduce advertising and paid partnership features. This is a nod to content creators, who are increasingly becoming a driving force in social media platforms. Financial analysts have already begun weighing in.
According to Angelo Zeno, a senior analyst at CFRA, Threads has the potential to become a significant revenue engine for Meta if it maintains its current growth trajectory. And as Threads opens up monetization features, it also becomes an attractive platform for influencers and creators.
It offers them a fresh platform to engage with their audience and monetize their reach, adding another layer of appeals to Threads. Now, as Threads finds its footing again, X continues to go down and falter. The contrast between the two couldn't be more apparent, and it's becoming clear which platform is capturing the
public's imagination. Seems like Threads may be pulling ahead of Twitter, formerly Twitter and now X. And as Threads grows, it's also earning users trust, a critical factor in the longevity of any social media platform. Meanwhile, X seems to be losing the crucial asset of trust. Both Threads and X are at pivotal stages right now. One could go up, one could go down.
It could differ depending on what platform makes the right moves, and with aggressive feature rollouts on one side and declining metrics on the other, the coming months will likely be decisive for both. Elon needs to turn Twitter slash X around and the tables have turned in the social media arena. Threads is gaining the kind of traction that X once had, but now seems to be losing. It's an intriguing reversal of fortune that merits close
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