Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, launched the social networking service (SNS) 'Threads,' which surpassed 100 million users within just five days of its release, dealing a direct blow to Twitter. Data has been continuously confirmed showing a noticeable decline in Twitter user traffic following the launch of Threads.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 10th (local time), citing traffic statistics site SimilarWeb, that Twitter's traffic decreased by 5% compared to the previous week and 11% compared to the previous year during the two days immediately after Threads' launch on the 6th and 7th. Threads, which has positioned itself as a rival to Twitter, was launched on the afternoon of the 5th.
On the previous day, Matthew Prince of the cloud infrastructure company Cloudflare also shared an image on his Twitter account showing 'Twitter traffic tanking,' indicating a sharp drop in traffic. WSJ stated, "The rapid increase in Threads' user base appears to be impacting Twitter," adding, "These figures suggest that many people are switching from Elon Musk's Twitter to Threads."
The sharp decline in Twitter user traffic is analyzed to be due to Twitter users switching over to Threads. Even on the day Threads was launched, some Twitter users left farewell messages on their Twitter accounts, with keywords like 'Goodbye Twitter' and 'Threads' being widely observed.
Since Threads is a text-based SNS similar to Twitter, its usage method is also similar. However, users can write posts up to 500 characters, which is longer than Twitter, and upload videos up to 5 minutes long. After Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, acquired Twitter, many users and advertisers disappointed by various policy changes have been openly targeted as an 'alternative.' WSJ evaluated, "The rapid growth of Threads over the past few days suggests that users are willing to give the new Meta platform (Threads) a chance."
The speed of user growth is also remarkable. Threads surpassed 100 million users on the fifth day after its launch. This is much faster than the previous fastest to reach 100 million users, the generative AI 'ChatGPT' (2 months). TikTok took 9 months, and Instagram about 2 years and 6 months to reach 100 million users. Considering that Threads allows easy account creation based on Instagram's 2 billion user base, an existing SNS platform, the speed is clearly outstanding. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, expressed satisfaction upon confirming the milestone of 100 million users, saying, "Most of this is pure demand, and we haven't even done much promotion yet. It's hard to believe it's only been five days."
However, there are also opinions that it remains to be seen whether Threads can surpass Twitter. Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Evercore ISI, pointed out, "It will take time to verify whether those (users) have become actual active users." However, he added that from an advertiser's perspective, Threads, backed by Meta, could have more advantages than Twitter. Eric Ross, an analyst at Cassend, emphasized that Twitter has survived as a strong player since its launch in 2006 by overcoming competitors like Parler, stating, "Twitter has been used for a very long time and has survived various issues. I don't think Twitter will disappear."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
