Instagram Attempts to Revive Fledgling X Rival Threads

It's been three months since Meta unveiled Threads, its answer to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. But the app is unraveling, with usage nosediving. Now it’s trying to steady the ship.

The Information reports that Meta wants users to engage more often – with focus groups being developed to find out how to get people to post more. Meta has made some changes since its launch, most notably rolling out a desktop publishing feature in late August, with the group now tasked with producing a roadmap of more new features for Threads that extends into 2024.

Threads peak saw some 49.3 million daily active users on Android. That was in July. It’s now averaging just 8.6 million. Instagram head Adam Mosseri, whose remit extends to Threads, said recently that people are using the app “but they don’t use it as frequently as we would like.”

Some at Meta believe the answer lies in news with The Information reporting some project leads want to attract more news-focused content. But Mosseri wants to steer clear and instead focus on creators, billing the app as a “less angry” competitor to X, formerly Twitter.

But despite the focus away from news, Threads appears barren in comparison to the app it was formed to fight, with users still using X for updates on big news and events.

Related:Meta Unveils Twitter Rival 'Threads': Everything You Need to Know

CEO Mark Zuckerberg told The Verge last week that Threads may succeed in more pop culture-focused news. “Even within news, there’s a whole spectrum between sort of hard, critical news and people understanding what’s going on with the sports that they follow or the celebrities that they follow,” he said.

Despite attempts to revive the platform, several platforms appear to have given up on it. The BBC hasn’t posted in weeks. Neither have the LA Rams. And reality star Kim Kardashian hasn’t even posted anything despite having amassed 6.8 million followers.