Instagram’s text-based app Threads saw huge success after launch, recording 49 million daily active users in its first week. However, that number dropped by over 50% to just 23.6 million users in the second week.
Despite strong initial interest, Threads faces major challenges to replace and maintain engagement with Twitter’s entrenched base of hundreds of millions of microbloggers.
And while there are many differences between Twitter and Threads, today I shall discuss how the current user base on each platform compares against the other.
By the end of this piece, you should be able to take an informed call as to which social media platform is right for you if you wish to connect with more individuals, expanding your network in the process.
Threads vs Twitter Users
Before I head over to the individual sections, let me address each platform individually. Twitter had a major branding overhaul a few days back. It was renamed to X, and post that, reports suggest that it has 237 million daily active users and 450 million monthly active users.
Almost 80 million of these users are from the United States, making the distribution heavily localized.
Also, despite starting at breakneck speeds, the Threads user count has dropped to 25 million by July 31, 2023. Per the stats, currently, Twitter has almost ten times the users compared to Threads.
Now that you know what the current landscape looks like, let’s delve deeper.
1. User Growth
User count isn’t always a true growth measuring metric. Numbers-wise, Twitter had a daily active user base of almost 220 million in Q1 of 2022.
In comparison to that, the number has increased by a decent margin in 2023, which is now close to 240 million.
On the other hand, Threads showed up in 2023, close to 1 million users sign up for Threads in 60 minutes of launch. Over the course of the next few weeks, the user base — not the active base, though — soared to 150 million.
The traction has declined since, and currently, only 23+ million users are seen interacting daily on the Threads app.
Despite the rebranding to X and the controversial takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter has managed to keep a consistent user base, unlike Threads. However, these are still early days for the latter.
2. User Profile Engagement
Based on research conducted using 308 subject accounts, an interesting trend related to user engagement showed up. Despite being a social media behemoth, Twitter posts had an average of 4.9 likes or “Hearts” per post. Threads, on the other hand, has this number as high as 31.40.
Comment-wise, Twitter’s average post is at 0.4, whereas Threads is sitting pretty at 4.3. This shows people on Threads are engaging more with their followers.
Another reason could be that most of the followers or connections are known to the concerned individual, generating more organic engagements.
And Threads, despite being in its infancy, has chalked out pretty good numbers despite the lack of Hashtags.
3. Individual User Engagement
The research delved deeper into individual followers across platforms and their engagement habits.
For instance, on Threads, each follower, on average, contributes 0.41% of the post’s total likes. This number goes down significantly for Twitter, at 0.015%.
Similarly, the comment percentage per follower on Twitter is 0.001%, whereas, for Threads, the number is higher at 0.056%.
If we were to decipher these stats, it is clear that engagement is better on Threads per present signs. This is the exact reason why people are flocking to this platform as early adopters — especially those who missed the Twitter bus.
4. User Locales
Users by country is an important metric to consider as it allows tracking the future of any app.
Countries that aren’t usually active in regards to an app might find another competing app more to their liking, helping generate better growth opportunities.
Something similar seems to be happening with Threads. If you look at Threads’ geographical spread, India tops the list, with almost 33% of Thread users coming from this country.
Brazil comes second with 22%, and the U.S. comes third with a 16% contribution to the user base. On the other hand, Twitter has the U.S. sitting on top, followed by Japan and Brazil.
5. Expectations
Another way of comparing social platforms is to compare the expected growth metrics. For Threads, analysts at Evercore ISI predict a user base of almost 200 million by 2025.
Also, it is worth mentioning that despite the simmering projections, Threads remains the fastest app to reach 100 million users, beating OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
According to the aspirational Elon Musk, Twitter, or rather X, is currently looking at an expected 400 million user base by 2025.
Therefore, the Threads estimates seem more in line with expectations, whereas the ones related to Twitter are looking a tad lofty.
Should You Switch to Threads from Twitter?
Here are a few key factors to consider when deciding whether to switch from Twitter to Threads:
- User Base Size: Twitter’s user base is much larger (in the hundreds of millions) compared to Threads (in the tens of millions). A larger user base provides more opportunities to connect, share, and interact.
- Established Network: Most people already have an established network and audience on Twitter. Switching platforms would require rebuilding that from scratch.
- Features: Twitter offers more features like lists, moments, newsletters etc. However, Threads is newer and may innovate with newer features down the line.
- Longevity: Twitter has been around for over a decade, while Threads is still new. Twitter’s longevity gives it more stability as a platform.
- Engagement: Threads saw a big drop in engagement after an initial spike. Twitter’s engagement is more steady, for now.
- Your needs: Consider which features matter most to you and where your current audience/community exists.
Unless Threads sees massive user growth soon, Twitter likely remains the better option if you want to reach a larger audience. But Threads may be worth exploring if you value its specific features or community.
Monitoring Threads’ progress over the next few months could help determine if switching makes sense for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
So far, Threads has not yet surpassed Twitter in terms of popularity and total number of active users. Twitter still maintains a significant lead over the newer Threads app. Unless Threads sees massive growth in its user base and retention soon, Twitter remains the more popular platform.
While some users probably still actively engage with Threads, its popularity and usage appear to have declined markedly since its first couple of weeks. Hard to gauge exact figures without new data from the company.
But based on trends, daily active users are likely only a fraction of what Threads saw right after launch.
Threads’ smaller size can aid safety through greater community moderation. But overall, Twitter currently appears safer due to its more mature safety practices and integrity teams. Threads may match Twitter’s protections over time if it grow.
Wrap Up!
And that sums up the comparison between Threads and Twitter users. It is worth noting that other metrics, including usage time, churn rate, retention rate, user vitality coefficient measuring frequency of posts, and more, exist.
However, Threads is barely one month old, so comparing the less-cooked insights with a behemoth like Twitter wouldn’t be right. I shall keep updating the piece with new info if and when more concrete details come to light.
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