Can Threads Become the Next Big Social Network? Gains Over 150 Million Monthly Users

Meta’s social networking app Threads, is growing steadily, surpassing 150 million monthly active users according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the company’s recent earnings call. 

This shows Threads has gained a commendable rise from 130 million users in February and 100 million in October.

Being optimistic about Threads’ unhindered growth, Zuckerberg aims for it to become the next billion-user social network within Meta’s suite of apps. 

This surge in users likely stems from the growing dissatisfaction with X under Musk’s leadership, leading many to seek alternative platforms. Threads is one of several contenders, alongside Bluesky, capitalizing on this trend.

Since its July 2023 launch, Meta has actively enhanced the app’s with features like a web app, keyword search, trending topics, an edit button, voice posts, and multi-account support. 

Additionally, promoting Threads posts on Instagram, another Meta-owned app, likely contributed to its user base growth. Pop star Taylor Swift recently joined Threads to promote her latest album.

Meta took a step towards interoperability in March. Users in specific countries, including the US, Canada, and Japan, can now share their posts to the fediverse, a network of decentralized social networks like Mastodon, through the ActivityPub protocol. 

This feature targets users above 18 with public profiles and is a first for Meta, allowing interaction with users beyond the Threads platform and potentially enabling future content transfer to other services.

Further expanding functionality, Meta is testing a Threads API slated for wider release by June. This API enables creators, developers, and brands to build unique experiences, manage their Threads presence efficiently, and share fresh content with their communities. 

Developers can utilize the API for authentication, post-publishing, and content retrieval. Additionally, Meta recently incorporated reply management capabilities and is working on functionalities like post-metric insights and real-time notifications via webhooks.

Meta is collaborating with partners like Grabyo, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social on the API rollout. Another recently tested feature allows selected users to manually or automatically archive posts after a set period. Interestingly, recent app analytics reveal that Threads might have surpassed X in terms of daily active users within the US.

Meta’s social media portfolio has over 3.24 billion daily active users across its various applications, reflecting a 7% year-on-year increase. While Threads hasn’t yet integrated Meta’s generative AI chatbot technology, the social network giant is actively investing in this field through its recently introduced AI chatbot powered by the company’s latest large language model.