
Meta’s Threads to Launch Web Version as User Interest Wanes
By Movieguide® Contributor
Meta announced it will launch a web version of Threads—the tech giant’s competitor to X—to provide a better user experience on the social media platform.
“Actual footage of me building Threads for web. Rolling out over the next few days,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads.
“Threads is beginning to roll out a new logged-in web experience that lets you post, view your feed, and interact with posts from your desktop,” Meta told USA TODAY in a statement. “The Threads team is working hard to bring this experience to parity with mobile and will be adding more functionality to the web experience in the coming weeks.”
Threads launched at the beginning of July, marketing itself as a friendlier version of X, formerly Twitter. The two platforms operate identically, creating a space for “microblogging” and real-time conversation.
Because of an extremely easy signup process—all users need is an Instagram account—Threads reached 100 million users in just five days.
However, the interest in the platform has declined substantially as activity on the app has fallen 79% from launch. Peaking at 49.3 million global daily users, the Android version of the app has now fallen to 10.3 million daily active users.
Many people have left the site because it feels unfinished. Zuckerberg launched the app quickly after Elon Musk, X’s then-CEO, said his site would cap the number of Tweets a user could see in a day. Zuckerberg hoped to capitalize on the uproar from this policy and drive traffic to his site.
However, because of its reactionary launch, the platform lacked many basic features, such as a desktop version and the inability to limit whose posts users see, causing people to be bombarded with celebrity posts.
Now that the interest from the initial launch has settled down, Meta is working to improve its site and add important features, like a desktop version.
Another factor in people leaving the site comes from its inconsistent policy enforcement. Many conservative-leaning celebrities have left the site after receiving uncensored hate from the Threads community, which violates Threads safety policies, but are allowed to remain on the site.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Meta’s Twitter rival Threads has shown its true colors as it censors a conservative account’s post.
Threads deleted a post from Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok account after she stated “non-binary isn’t real.”
“Stating facts is ‘hate speech’ on Threads,” Raichik said in a Twitter post showing her censorship…
“Your post on Threads goes against our Community Guidelines on hate speech or symbols,” Raichik was notified when her post was deleted. “Our guidelines encourage people to express themselves in a way that’s respectful to everyone. If you think we made a mistake, you can ask us to review out decision.”
Despite Thread’s censorship of her post claiming that the site does not tolerate hate speech, Raichik has received extensive hateful messages calling her a fascist, nazi and a terrorist.