First documented in July 2023 on Twitter. Currently in a period of declining activity from earlier peak engagement.
Threads (Meta’s Twitter competitor launched July 2023) broke records with 100M users in 5 days, fastest app ever to that milestone. Capitalizing on Twitter/X chaos under Elon Musk, it leveraged Instagram integration for instant audience. However, 80% user drop-off within weeks revealed hollow growth—people tried it, found nothing to do, left. Despite Meta’s resources, replicating Twitter’s network effects proved impossible.
Sources: Threads Launch Statistics, User Retention Analysis
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