Meta’s new social media platform, Threads, experienced a significant drop in users, losing more than half of its initial 100 million users within a short period after its launch earlier this month. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta (formerly Facebook), admitted to the decline in a call with employees, stating that it would be ideal if more users stayed on the platform. He described the situation as “normal” and expressed optimism that user retention would improve as new features were added to the app.
Threads faced criticism for its limited functionality at launch, but Meta has since introduced updates to address user concerns. They added separate “following” and “for you” feeds and expanded the capability to translate posts into different languages. The company’s focus is now on incorporating more “retention-driving hooks” to entice users back to the platform, such as integrating Threads with Instagram, as users must have an Instagram account to sign up for Threads.
During the call, Mr. Zuckerberg also discussed Meta’s ambitious bet on the creation of a virtual reality world called the Metaverse. He indicated that the progress on the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to power the Metaverse was on track, although he anticipated it would not become mainstream until the next decade. This dedication to the Metaverse has raised concerns, as the Reality Labs division, responsible for VR headsets and related products, has incurred multi-billion dollar losses. However, Meta as a whole remains financially successful, reporting a profit of $7.79 billion in the last quarter.
On a lighter note, Mr. Zuckerberg addressed the much-publicized topic of a proposed cage fight with fellow tech mogul Elon Musk. While both indicated their interest in the bout earlier in June, Mr. Zuckerberg was uncertain about whether the fight would actually happen when asked during the call.
