In a surprising turn of events, Meta’s Threads has emerged as a more effective platform for brands compared to Twitter, which has long dominated the social media landscape.
Since its launch on July 5, Threads has achieved unprecedented growth, surpassing 100 million registered users within a mere five days.
This remarkable feat even outpaced the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the latest tech sensation.
A recent study conducted by Website Planet, a renowned web development service, reveals that Threads, essentially a Twitter clone, is generating higher online engagement than its predecessor. The study focused on 30 brands that maintained accounts on both platforms and analyzed their simultaneous posts or identical content shared across Twitter and Threads.
The Mass Exodus from Twitter: Boosting Engagement on Threads
Threads has attracted a multitude of newspapers and entertainment-focused companies, who have eagerly established their presence on the platform and actively posted content. On July 7, the study found that 87% of the analyzed brands experienced higher engagement on their Threads posts compared to Twitter. On average, these brands witnessed an astonishing eight-fold increase in likes on the new platform. Threads exhibited a substantially higher average engagement rate of 0.45% compared to Twitter’s meager 0.02%.
Moreover, the study observed that brand accounts on Threads consistently achieved higher engagement levels than their corresponding accounts on Twitter.
Mark Zuckerberg Surprises Elon Musk
Undoubtedly, Threads is still in its early stages, as evident from the relatively low follower count of brands such as CNN, which had less than 330 followers on Threads during the study, in stark contrast to its massive 61 million-plus followers on Twitter (although CNN now boasts a million followers on Threads). However, heightened engagement serves as a magnet for brands and advertisers on social media platforms. Consequently, Threads poses a threat not only to Twitter’s user base but also to its already declining advertising revenues.
Several factors contribute to Threads’ rapid growth. Its seamless integration with users’ existing Instagram accounts allows for easy sign-ups and enables the migration of followers from Instagram to Threads. Renowned Instagrammers like Bill Gates, Shakira, and Oprah Winfrey, along with major brands such as Netflix, served as early adopters, effectively popularizing Threads even before its official launch.
While it remains to be seen whether Threads will maintain its momentum or face challenges in the future, it has already prompted Elon Musk and his team to reassess many of their decisions since acquiring Twitter last year. The success of Threads highlights the shifting dynamics of social media and emphasizes the need for platforms to adapt to evolving user preferences and expectations.
