In the face of fierce competition, the Threads microblogging platform has shown a significant increase in daily downloads over the past three months, surpassing the X platform (formerly Twitter). According to analytical data provided by Appfigures, this success testifies to an increasing interest among users in alternative microblogging services, amidst reforms made on X by Elon Musk.
Threads Gains Momentum Post Twitter’s Transformation into X
Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion, its rebranding to X, and several significant changes to the platform’s operation, the public watched anxiously for the potential downfall of this social giant. These dramatic reforms spurred the emergence of new services like Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon that aim to attract users seeking an X alternative. Recent data from Appfigures indicates that Threads leads the pack.
Remarkable User Adoption of Threads
Since its launch in July 2023, Threads attracted over 100 million users in less than a week. The majority of these downloads happened on Google Play, with about 600,000 of them from the Apple App Store. Even though the initial surge of interest in the service faded quickly, dropping user engagement by 70% by the end of the month, Threads’ daily downloads remained consistently higher than those of X, which faced a slight decline during the same period.
Threads’ Continuous Growth vs. X’s Modest Performance
By December, Threads’ downloads started growing again and remained high, while X demonstrated a much more modest result. Over the past three months, Threads’ installations have been two to three times higher than X’s, affirming its leadership among competitors. In contrast, platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, being decentralized, were harder for Appfigures to track accurately. Nonetheless, they experienced modest surges in interest along with X in early February.
Comparing Audience Growth: Threads vs. X
While daily app downloads highlight audience growth, established platforms like X naturally attract users slower than a new service like Threads, as millions have already installed it on their devices. However, recent financial reports from both companies indicate that Threads gained a quarter of X’s active user base in just under a year.
X’s Challenges and Declining Parameters
An analysis conducted last fall showed that X was experiencing a decrease in all factors after a year under Musk’s leadership. In early 2024, American holding company Fidelity, one of X’s major investors, valued the company 70% lower than what Musk paid in 2022. In addition, X’s bot problem continues to worsen, further complicating the task of determining the actual number of genuine active users of this social network. While both Threads and X have intensified their anti-spam efforts, many users indicate that bots seem more prevalent on X than ever before.
