Meta's Threads app, initially hailed as a potential ‘Twitter Killer,’ has seen a 75% drop in traffic since its launch week, with users spending significantly less time on the platform.

The Threads application on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Meta Platforms Inc.'s answer to Twitter Inc. has rocketed to 100 million users in less than a week, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced on Monday. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)
The Threads application on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Meta Platforms Inc.'s answer to Twitter Inc. has rocketed to 100 million users in less than a week, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced on Monday. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

Meta's Threads is struggling to attract users to its platform after a wildly successful launch week. Threads was marketed as 'Twitter killer' at a time when many frustrated Twitter users, tired of the changes introduced by Elon Musk, were looking for alternatives.

Also Read: Threads may get Twitter-like direct message feature

According to data from market analysis firm Sensor Tower, traffic to Threads has plummeted 75 percent since its debut on July 6. Meanwhile, SimilarWeb data shows that the average time users spend on the Threads app has dropped to 4 minutes from 19 minutes on iOS and 5 minutes from 21 minutes on Android.

Threads has become the fastest growing app ever, with more than 100 million active users in just 5 days since launch, surpassing even the popularity ratings set by OpenAI's ChatGPT. Meta's latest social media app has been downloaded more than 184 million times worldwide, according to Data.ai Intelligence.

Why is Threads losing traffic? 

One of the main reasons for the Threads app losing traction with users is the lack of clarity about what the app is supposed to be. At launch, it looked like Instagram was trying to attract disgruntled Twitter users to a new platform. However, it seems that Threads and Twitter are aimed at very different audiences.

Over the years, Twitter has been known as a forum for news and politics, where popular personalities such as journalists, celebrities, athletes and politicians go to voice their 'political' and sometimes controversial opinions. Instagram and other Meta have been known to shy away from politics and focus on engaging with images and videos.

Instagram and Threads boss Adam Mosseri has made it clear that the latest social media entrant doesn't want to dabble in politics or hard news. Threads' reluctance to embrace news and political content raises questions about the audience Threads wants to serve.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk had also raised this issue in a response to a tweet on 8 July, writing, "How many times have you read comments on Insta pics & wished there were more? Personally, never."

Threads is also in the process of introducing a rate limit on posts to discourage spam accounts. Days before the launch of Threads, Musk had also announced a temporary limit on the number of posts that can be viewed in a day, infuriating many Twitter users.