Threads seems to have found its footing, but it still has a long road ahead to catch X (formerly known as Twitter).
Meta’s new text-based social media network Threads has been live for about three months now. Since its launch, the app has added a number of new features, including a web app for desktop, the ability to search for keywords, text translation, a Following feed, and more.
So, where does that leave the app? According to data analysis from Insider Intelligence and reported by CNBC, Threads now commands an estimated user base of 23.7 million monthly active users. That places the new social network just ahead of Tumblr, which currently has about 20.4 million users. The new numbers put Threads at about half the size of X (formerly known as Twitter) which currently has an estimated 56.1 million users.
Of course, neither of those platforms still comes close to the big three: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Those three social networks all have over 100 million users, with Facebook being the largest at an estimated 177.9 monthly active users:
Post by @technicallymimsView on Threads
The analytics firm thinks that Threads has quite a bit of time before it has a chance to catch up to X in terms of users, saying that it is expected to “rank second-to-last among social networks” through at least 2025. In a statement, Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said that growth could accelerate if Elon Musk, CEO of X, makes good on his idea to charge all users on the platform a monthly fee.
“Threads received an initial boost from Twitter’s missteps, but it can’t rely on X defectors to continue to grow…Assuming Musk doesn’t backtrack, the move will likely alienate more X users and potentially increase advertiser interest in Threads.”
Enberg said that, in order for Threads to really take off, it needs to be “more than an extension of Instagram or an alternative to X.” So far, I’ve been really enjoying the app and prefer it to X. However, I’ve noticed that — even in the tech community full of early adopters — many personalities still seem to visit and post to X more often.
If Threads is going to truly pull them away, it’s going to have to continue to scale and provide creators with more tools and resources, especially since X is now paying creators for their content if they are X Premium subscribers.
