It appears that Instagram’s Threads, Meta’s alternative to Twitter, is currently outperforming X (formerly Twitter) in terms of daily downloads. Globally, Threads is seeing three times the daily downloads of X on iOS and more than double, and sometimes triple, the number of installs on Google Play. While app downloads may not precisely reflect usage, they provide an indication of the app’s popularity and market traction.
The popularity of Instagram’s Threads relative to X (formerly Twitter) has seen fluctuations. Following its public launch in the summer of 2023, Threads experienced a surge in new installs. However, Meta’s various strategies to boost traffic to Threads, such as featuring it in the timelines of Facebook and Instagram, led to fluctuations in download numbers. Over time, Threads’ downloads have returned to be competitive with X installs, particularly on iOS, based on data from Appfigures.
Threads vs X: Downloads in Numbers
Towards the end of last year, there was a shift in the trend. In late December, Threads began to experience over half a million daily installs on both Google Play and iOS. Although the iOS numbers have slightly decreased in January, Threads consistently surpasses X in daily downloads across both platforms, suggesting a widening gap between the two apps.
As of February 25, 2024, Threads experienced 486,803 installs on Google Play and 342,228 on iOS. In contrast, X had 225,408 Google Play downloads and 112,625 on iOS during the same period, as reported by Appfigures data. This indicates that Threads is garnering nearly triple the iOS downloads and more than double the downloads on Google Play compared to X.
Just a few days earlier, on February 22, the gap was even more significant. Threads recorded 382,999 daily installs on iOS compared to just 113,649 installs for X on the same platform—more than triple. On Google Play, Threads had 660,882 downloads, while X on the Play Store had 210,475—again, more than triple.
While Threads’ daily installation rates still fluctuate, they consistently remain above X’s. Over time, this shift could extend to monthly active users. If that were the case, Threads could become the primary microblogging platform for most users, surpassing Twitter’s long-standing dominance in this space. This change would also mean Meta has more editorial control over the information-sharing and news ecosystem used by journalists, researchers, academics, news enthusiasts, and others. It’s important to note that Meta has stated it won’t amplify news on Threads and won’t recommend political content.
Gizchina News of the week
Threads Recorded 130 million Active Users in Q4 of 2023
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads had 130 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of the company’s fourth quarter. It’s likely that these numbers have continued to increase in the weeks since the announcement. Instagram head Adam Mosseri has mentioned that the Threads app is performing “remarkably well” in Japan, where Twitter has historically had strong traction.
what is the Actual Problem with X?
X reported having 500 million monthly active users as of last fall. However, it’s uncertain how many of these accounts are automated or spam. Recent reports indicate that X may be dealing with a Verified bot problem, where certain blue-checked, paid accounts inadvertently disclosed their nature by responding to X posts with a standard message stating, “I’m sorry, I cannot provide the requested feedback as it goes against OpenAI’s content policy” — a response typical of AI-generated content. A search on X still shows evidence of this issue.
While Threads is not entirely free from this problem, it seems that more users are organically posting this phrase on Meta’s platform as a humorous trend among followers.
X’s challenges with new installations may be linked to its rebranding from Twitter. Although month-over-month downloads increased slightly in December and January, they remain significantly lower than before the rebranding, as noted by Appfigures. Threads’ revenue has seen a slight uptick in January compared to the previous month, but the firm anticipates that February’s revenue will decrease.
Effects of Alternative Apps
Decentralized alternatives to X, such as Mastodon’s official mobile app and the recently public Bluesky, struggle to compete with this competition and show minimal activity on the download chart. While Mastodon has a broad third-party app ecosystem, its network currently hovers around 1 million monthly active users, according to its own first-party data.
Bluesky experienced a small increase in downloads when it became publicly available earlier this month, but its momentum has since subsided. On its most significant day (February 7, the day after its launch), it recorded 79,685 installs on iOS and 55,711 on Google Play—significantly lower than Threads or X. However, given that Bluesky recently introduced federation, allowing anyone to run their own Bluesky server, it might gain traction over time as a decentralized alternative to Twitter/X.
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