Meta's Threads is a year old now

A year ago, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and the Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri decided to go, head to head with X (Foremely Twitter) by bringing a Twitter-like alternative to the Meta social media space in the name of Threads.

A year later, Threads has reached over 175 million monthly active users as announced by the Meta CEO on Wednesday. On July 5th, 2023, the platform was finally introduced to respective app stores for mobile platforms and its own website came weeks later.

How the platform has come so far

People who flocked to Threads were curious to see if the Twitter alternative was worth the download and the integration with their Instagram accounts since one had to have had an existing Instagram account to access and use Threads.

In the hype, some users were still unsatisfied with the new platform because the algorithm was not in tune with their preferences, and that became the issue months later and some decided to "ditch" the platform for a while until new stuff was brought on board. Eventually, some features came later like editing posts, trending topics feature, voice recording posts, profile switching and direct messages.

The web app or website also got a bit of a User Interface overhaul to make the experience more organized and fluid for web users.

User Growth in the Past Year

Like any social network, and particularly for Threads, the number of monthly users only reveals a portion of the growth narrative. Notably, Meta has not yet disclosed daily user figures for Threads, unlike its other platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. 

This lack of information implies that Threads may still be attracting significant transient traffic from individuals who are not yet consistent users. Additionally, a considerable part of the app's recent growth can be attributed to promotions within Instagram. Both applications utilize a shared account system, which is anticipated to remain unchanged.

Personal Take about Threads

The platform is promising, although Twitter's influence still remains the lead of all forms of social media communication. There has been struggling growth for some influencers and possibly content creators like me coming from the Instagram side, possibly because visual content is the in thing right now and people are yet to adjust, even a year later.

However, I find Threads like a mix of Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest in more ways than one as of now. Here is the thing; I interact and like relevant suggested content tailored to my needs and interaction (courtesy of Instagram's algorithm) and somehow get interest inspirations from other graphic designers and techies.

It would be ideal if Threads worked on their notifications management, I find it distracting (let me know if you feel the same issue).

Cultural Impact (yet to be adapted)

Mixing cultural relevance with the current media platforms is essential for social media users...but that's a discussion for another day. Although Threads has not yet reached the status of a cultural phenomenon, its steady growth offers Meta the chance to enhance its significance.

Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, expressed at the launch that the objective is to attain cultural importance and gather hundreds of millions of users. This bold goal highlights Meta's dedication to establishing Threads as a key figure in the social media realm.

The app certainly needs to advance further in terms of cultural aspects. However, the ongoing growth of Meta provides the opportunity to achieve this.