Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently revealed that their new social media platform, Threads faces user decline. Despite a promising start with over 100 million users within just five days of its launch, the platform failed to retain its initial user base.
In a candid conversation with employees, Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged the situation, stating that while it would have been ideal for a considerable portion of the sign-ups to stay, they have not achieved that goal yet. He emphasized that this decline is a common occurrence in the industry and expressed optimism that user retention would improve as they introduce new features to the app.
Upon its launch, Threads received criticism due to its limited functionality. However, Meta has been proactive in addressing these concerns and has rolled out additional features, including separate “following” and “for you” feeds, as well as enhanced language translation capabilities.
Chris Cox, Meta’s Chief Product Officer, informed the staff that their focus is now on incorporating more “retention-driving hooks” to attract users back to the platform. For instance, one strategy involves ensuring that users on the Instagram app can easily access important Threads content, as the two platforms are closely integrated – requiring users to have an Instagram account to sign up for Threads.
During the same employee call, Mr. Zuckerberg also provided updates on Meta’s ambitious project, the Metaverse – a virtual reality world yet to be created. He stated that progress on the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to power the Metaverse is on track, but he anticipates it will not become mainstream until the next decade. This prediction has raised concerns among some stakeholders that the company’s Reality Labs division, which produces VR headsets and related products, has incurred significant losses.
Despite these concerns, Meta as a whole remains financially robust, with recent announcements indicating a profit of $7.79 billion in the last quarter.
On a lighter note, Mr. Zuckerberg also addressed the attention-grabbing topic of his proposed cage fight with tech titan Elon Musk. While both had expressed interest in the idea, Mr. Zuckerberg stated uncertainty about whether the event would actually come to fruition.
In summary, Meta’s Threads faces user decline, but the company remains focused on enhancing the platform’s features to improve user retention. Additionally, the ambitious Metaverse project continues to progress, albeit with a timeline extending into the next decade. Meanwhile, the proposed cage fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk remains uncertain.
