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Threads users down by more than a half

bbc.com

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Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#21

Post by [deleted] »

mrcwinn wrote: post #17
operatingthetan wrote: post #9

This is being reported in a strange way. We don't typically write about startups gaining initial signups and then compare them to the active users as if they lost something by not getting 100% of them to engage. Do we even have numbers for what percent of twitter users actively engage versus total user base? I don't think they are doing very bad considering it's mobile only right now.

"Not getting 100%" is a bit of a straw man argument. "Less than half" is significant, particularly when the CEO (to his credit) is calling it out as something that must improve. And it matters to balance the existing narrative from the Verge, which seems to just regurgitate Meta's VP's language about it being a runaway success.

[deleted]

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#22

Post by yangikan »

bena wrote: post #6
davidw wrote: post #4

It seems to have enough people that it has some legs. I am really looking forward to a web version of it, but otherwise enjoy it, despite some growing pains. Edit I'm here: https://www.threads.net/@davidnwelton Edit2 If I think about it some, the biggest drawback about Threads for me is swapping one egocentric billionaire who is rapidly going off the rails for another who is, for the moment, more stable, but has stil…

I think the lack of a web client is a big reason. Also, I'm not sure if there's an API for it. If there isn't, that would need to be implemented.

Also, one can only login through instagram login id.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#23

Post by dhosek »

I don’t use Twitter because I like Twitter, but because that’s where the people that I like to interact with (mostly writers) are. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Twitter isn’t going to be that place with each new chaos monkey attack from Musk, but what the successor place is going to be remains to be seen. Threads failed the smell test early on because it started out with algorithmic feed only and the algorithmic feed on Twitter made a lot of people skeptical of that. Throw in the phone-app-only interface and it’s not where my people want to be. It’s a chicken and egg problem to be sure, and I don’t know where the new writer bar is going to be. It might end up being Threads ultimately, but the big challenge is for whatever new platform to get the movement happening.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#25

Post by dhosek »

dhosek wrote: post #23

I don’t use Twitter because I like Twitter, but because that’s where the people that I like to interact with (mostly writers) are. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Twitter isn’t going to be that place with each new chaos monkey attack from Musk, but what the successor place is going to be remains to be seen. Threads failed the smell test early on because it started out with algorithmic feed only and the algori…

If I had to guess what the indicator of where the new writer bar ends up, it will be wherever Joyce Carol Oates goes. Not because people like her or her tweets necessarily, but that she’s kind of like the black hole at the center of a galaxy, you don’t want to get too close (she’s the queen of the bizarre takes, not to mention her post with a rather disturbing picture of her feet), and yet everything kind of ineluctably ends up orbiting around her anyway.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#26

Post by davidw »

dhosek wrote: post #23

I don’t use Twitter because I like Twitter, but because that’s where the people that I like to interact with (mostly writers) are. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Twitter isn’t going to be that place with each new chaos monkey attack from Musk, but what the successor place is going to be remains to be seen. Threads failed the smell test early on because it started out with algorithmic feed only and the algori…

> Threads failed the smell test early on because it started out with algorithmic feed

That was probably a wise decision to seed it with something for people to look at and interact with so they didn't just sign in and see a blank page. The random influencers and other people "go away" pretty quickly if you start following and interacting with people you care more about.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#27

Post by standardUser »

MildRant wrote: post #5
davidw wrote: post #4

It seems to have enough people that it has some legs. I am really looking forward to a web version of it, but otherwise enjoy it, despite some growing pains. Edit I'm here: https://www.threads.net/@davidnwelton Edit2 If I think about it some, the biggest drawback about Threads for me is swapping one egocentric billionaire who is rapidly going off the rails for another who is, for the moment, more stable, but has stil…

I would be awestruck if they made a web version. Instagram goes through great pains to screw web users. Apps have more control and collect more data after all.

Embeddable Tweets are a fundamental part of what made Twitter an integral part of our lives. There will be embeddable Threads.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#28

Post by ramesh31 »

As the dust is settling on the last 15 years of this insanity, and the monopolies are being cemented, is Zuck not the only one left standing independently? Of the big guys, the early "wizkid founder" types, who else is left towing the line and controlling the destiny of their company? And who else is maintaining that techno-utopianist optimism publicly? I sort of admire the guy, if only for how every time he speaks, it feels like a time portal to 2009.

Re: Threads users down by more than a half

#29

Post by pyrophane »

operatingthetan wrote: post #9

This is being reported in a strange way. We don't typically write about startups gaining initial signups and then compare them to the active users as if they lost something by not getting 100% of them to engage. Do we even have numbers for what percent of twitter users actively engage versus total user base? I don't think they are doing very bad considering it's mobile only right now.

I would assume most of the blame here really lies with Meta.

I mean, didn't they: 1. Leverage their IG user base to get a lot of early sign-ups and then... 2. Use those early sign-ups to hype up the platform?

They got exactly what they wanted, which was a lot of articles about how fast Threads was growing.

They probably knew all along that most of those early sign-ups weren't going turn into active users.

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