Threads lost over half of its users in the weeks since the app launched, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The social media platform had amassed 100 million users in five days after the app became available to the public on July 6.
“Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally, it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We’re not there yet,” Zuckerberg said in a meeting with his employees, Reuters reported.
Daily active users went from 49 million on July 7, its best day, to 23 million a week later, according to an estimate from the web analytics company Similarweb.
Retention of users was better than expected, although “not perfect.” Meta hopes users will stick around as new features are added to the app. This includes “making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads,” Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said.
Threads has yet to include a desktop version, hashtags, direct messaging, visible analytics and a trending topics page.
“We’re working on it!” Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram and Threads, tweeted in response to growing demand for a web version of Threads.
Meta has started updating the app. The company added a tab on July 25. Users can now see posts chronologically and sort notifications and activity by follows, replies, mentions, quotes and reposts.
A launch date for additional features has yet to be announced