Threads loses more than half of users since launch

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed Threads, the rival app to Elon Musk’s X the rebrand of Twitter, has lost more than half of its users following its launch this month.

According to Reuters, in a call to employees last week the Meta boss said the text version app of Instagram has struggled to retain its users after gaining over 100 million users within five days of its launch.

In an audio shared to Reuters, he said, “Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet,” he said.

Threads was launched by Zuckerberg earlier this month built by the Instagram team. Users can log in using their Instagram account and posts can be up to 500 characters long which can include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length,

Zuckerberg said the loss was “normal” and expects numbers to pick up as the company introduces new features to the app, imcluding a desktop version and search fuctionality.

Meta’a chief product officer Chris Cox added, the Meta team are exploring “retention-driving hooks” to lure users back to the app.