Meta’s Threads, an X competitor, is working on releasing a web version of its social media app.
Currently, Threads is only available as an app on smartphones. While mobile devices make a substantial part of web traffic, desktops are still a major portion of devices that Meta cannot afford to ignore. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Meta Platforms plans to launch a web version of microblogging app Threads early this week, the biggest new feature to be introduced on its competitor to Elon Musk’s X.
The desktop version would address one of the biggest of a long wish list of features users have sought for Threads. The text-first social-media app appeared on track to be a smash hit out of the gate when Meta launched a bare-bones version in early July, but use of it has plunged in recent weeks.
Threads has been declining in popularity since its original splash on the scene. While still receiving significant web traffic, it has lost momentum following X’s own revamped ad revenue sharing program. Business Insider adds:
Threads’ launch has been generally successful, gaining over 100 million users in its first week, but has also had issues from the jump. SimilarWeb, which tracks traffic on different websites, found in late July, using data from Android users, that fewer and fewer people were active on Threads since its first weeks.
According to their data, on its highest traffic day, July 7, there were 49 million daily active users worldwide on Androids; the next week, there were only 23.6 million active daily users. The 23.6 million figure is about a quarter of X’s daily audience.
User data privacy continues to be Meta’s biggest hurdle to grow its user base, though it is also the key to its revenue stream. While Meta continues to develop its product, it might benefit from Elon Musk’s own radical changes. Should Musk slip up in his quest to remake Twitter, Threads will be right there waiting for its user base.
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