The “Twitter killer”, Threads by Meta, garnered more than 100 million users in just five days after its release on July 6. But engagement has been slowly reducing since the initial hype, according to a CNBC report.

As the initial reviews pour in, it is clear that Threads brings nothing new to the table. The novelty of a sleeker Twitter-like home feed copy wears off after the first day, and the ability to easily connect with Instagram mutuals, on the second. And the flaws are glaring on the third — from the messy, randomised posts to the lack of chronological display of threads.

The users’ experience becomes underwhelming as they soon realise the things that make Twitter addictive — trends, topics and hashtags — are missing.

This void could be filled as the algorithm evolves and new features are introduced, but the app’s spark is likely to burn out by then.

Competition is cut-throat in the vicious ocean of social media, and when one of the most popular micro-blogging sites wobbles on the legs of messy management, an alternative app could seem like the saviour users need, especially from one of its closest competitors.

After all, there are many fish in this sea, and Meta was the killer whale that social media users needed when they were faced with Twitter’s restrictive rate limits.

Meta’s timely release of Threads has earned it a splendid burst of engagement, but the future of this replica stands bleak. Unless Threads rivets and plays the role of the sustainable Instagram sidekick, focusing more on its high-quality media-sharing features, perhaps with limited text options, the app is bound to hold on by a thread.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW