META’s text-based social network Threads has surged to 150 million monthly active users, up from 130 million in February, according to the company’s first quarter 2024 earnings report as announced by CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg.
TechCrunch reported that the new platform aims to challenge decentralised social media rivals such as Mastodon by allowing U.S. users over 18 to link their accounts to the “Fediverse” via the ActivityPub protocol, enabling their posts to be visible across multiple servers beyond Threads’ network..
Meta also plans to release a Threads API to third-party developers by June that would allow them to build custom apps and experiences integrating with their network, though it remains unclear if full alternative client apps will be permitted.
While AI chatbots were integrated across Meta’s Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram last week, the lack of direct messaging on Threads meant it missed out on this rollout for now.
However, the text-based platform did launch a new post archiving feature on April 24, letting users auto-archive older posts after a set timeframe or manually archive/unarchive individual posts to curate their public presence.
The app, now about nine months old, continues to distinguish itself from its direct rival X, having its own audience while remaining ad-free and without revenue generation, as for now.
Adding to that, Threads’ growth remains steady, with reports this week suggesting it now has more daily active users in the U.S. than X, based on analytics firm Apptopia’s data.
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