Threads On Track To Top 100 Million Users

Threads, the Twitter-like rival produced by Instagram, is well on its way to reaching 100 million users less than five days after it launched.

Of course, that shouldn’t necessarily be surprising. Threads had a ready-to-go billion-strong user base from Instagram, and users must sign up for Threads with their Instagram account.

The media circus — including from B&T — around Threads has also likely brought much attention to the app. Every news site under the sun seems to have a 1,000-word plus Threads explained article, all of which surmount to nothing more than it is Twitter sans controversial new owner Elon Musk.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, said two days after launch, “The vision for Threads is to create an open and friendly public space for conversation. We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas and discussing what’s on your mind.”

Just two days later, he posted, “70 million sign ups on Threads as of this morning. Way beyond our expectations.”

Musk has clearly been rankled by the nascent app’s success. He’s threatened Meta with a lawsuit over alleged stealing of trade secrets and data scaping on Twitter that conravenes the app’s terms of service.

He has also called Zuckerberg a “cuck.”

Zuck is a cuck
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2023

Musk, for what it’s worth, spends a great deal of his time engaging with internet celebrities and fringe political commentators on Twitter.

Should be fixed now
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2023

For adland, though, there is excitement around Threads. But, as Meta confirmed that the app would not have any form of monetisation until 2024 at the earliest, the literal pay-off from using the app is quite low.

Plus, there is no way to explore trends, news, or anything else on the app yet. Meta has said that it is working on these features but, as it stands, it feels very bare-bones.

“It is a little bit light on functionality,” Max Thorley, head of social at GroupM told B&T.

“But it feels pretty clear in terms of what they’re building this towards… Whilst it doesn’t have a DM functionality or a search functionality it’s kind of operating in this quasi discovery versus social graph model.”

But, if the user base keeps growing, it seems clear that Instagram will keep putting developer time and effort into the app and getting it ready for advertising.

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