Zuckerberg’s Threads is playing it too safe to beat Musk’s X

2023-08-27 20:06:38

Bloomberg Opinion — Building traction for any new social media app is hard, but not nearly as hard as maintaining it. A month and a half after its successful launch, that’s the challenge facing Threads, the alleged Twitter assassin of Mark Zuckerberg. So far things don’t seem to be going quite well.

The number of active users of Threads, which was downloaded about 100 million times in the first few days, has fallen between 60% and 70%, according to SensorTower. More worrisome for the CEO of Meta is that the average daily time spent on the app has fallen to just 2.5 minutes, compared to around 30 minutes a day for Twitter (or X, if you will) and an hour for Instagram.

A boost could come in the form of a key update coming this week: a desktop interface. This means people can post to Threads from their computers, not just their smartphones—a hallelujah moment for so-called “power users” who post multiple times a day from their desktops. On Twitter, this extremely connected group of people is responsible for the vast majority of content and engagement. Threads needs them.

Unfortunately, the desktop version – which I’ve been testing – will do little in its current form to revive the use of Threads. The interface could be described as minimalist. Yerma would be another word to define it. It lacks basic features, such as the ability to quote another user’s post while adding your own comment. Zuckerberg said that development of Threads would be slow. He wasn’t kidding.

Enabling a way to access Threads via desktop computers is just one checkbox on a long to-do list. Threads is still missing some of the key elements that Twitter offers. You can’t host live audio slots or stream video. There are no hashtags yet, which makes following specific topics—or finding people you want to meet, not just the ones you know—quite a challenge. In fact, there is no search function, nor trending topics, to give us an idea of ​​what is happening in the global water source. (If we can call it that: Meta has yet to launch the app in much of Europe, citing regulatory issues.)

Thread usage has dropped sharply since launch (Source: SensorTower)

These criticisms may seem harsh for a seemingly hastily built new platform, inspired by the regularly replenishing dumpster fire on Twitter. In assessing Elon Musk’s management since taking over Twitter and rebranding it, Adam Mosseri, the Meta executive in charge of Instagram and Threads, has understandably taken the view that it’s wiser to carefully test updates before rolling them out to the public. public. Meta long ago abandoned its famous “move fast and break things” mantra in favor of a cautious approach better suited to a huge corporation that handles the personal data of more than 3 billion users across all of its apps.

But while Zuckerberg and Mosseri have frequently insisted on the fact that Threads is being built “from the ground up,” such statements seem somewhat disingenuous. Threads is built on top of Instagram, a platform with over 2 billion users and enabling a rich and extensive feature set of images, short TikTok-like videos, and live broadcasts. The reluctance to integrate the platforms beyond the technical infrastructure seems like a calculated business choice: Meta doesn’t want to risk cannibalizing Instagram in favor of the hitherto ad-free Threads.

Total hours dedicated daily to the mobile application of each platform (Source: SensorTower)

While investors are enthusiastic about Threads — some predict it could generate $8 billion in additional annual revenue if advertising were introduced — that sentiment would sour at the first sign that Threads’ stake was eating the goose that lays eggs. of gold, Instagram. Owning the “new” Twitter would give Zuckerberg immense credibility, but the prize is comparatively minuscule when compared to the scale of Instagram, a platform that is growing so rapidly that it has added engagement the size of Twitter in the last year alone. , based on a SensorTower analysis of mobile app usage.

All this comes to say It is in the hands of Meta. Although Musk has given plenty of reasons for people to abandon Twitter, he now depends on Meta shaping Threads to make it attractive or fun, or even a little edgy. There isn’t an infinite window of opportunity, and it will require Mosseri to dust off the old motto and get building, even at the risk of breaking things.

A recent Threads beta program for Android users, where new features can be tested, is a step in the right direction. Meta needs to get out of his comfort zone if he wants to shake off the risk of Threads gaining a reputation as a boring network that doesn’t deserve people’s attention. Mosseri can take a lesson from Musk and not be afraid to experiment in the great outdoors. The continued use of Twitter is proof that people are willing to get around all kinds of bugs and imperfections if the community is worth it.

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