Threads, Meta’s latest microblogging platform, has taken the social media world by storm, amassing 100 million users in just over two days.
This rapid rise to popularity has had a significant impact on Twitter. According to Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, Twitter has been grappling with a noticeable decline in traffic since the beginning of 2023. Now, with the launch of the Threads app, Twitter’s traffic seems to have taken another huge hit.
Cloudflare’s data reveals that Twitter has now slipped to the 37th position in domain ranking, a significant drop from its more favourable 32nd position at the start of the year.
This sharp decline strongly indicates that Twitter is losing its once strong user base, and the launch of Threads has contributed further to this downward trend.
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The decline in Twitter’s popularity can be partly attributed to the controversial changes implemented by its new owner, Elon Musk, following his acquisition of the platform for a staggering $44 billion in 2022.
These alterations have left many users dissatisfied and motivated them to seek alternative platforms such as Mastodon and Bluesky, as well as the recently unveiled Threads by Instagram.
Users have been particularly displeased with the introduction of restrictions on daily post access and the placement of essential features like SMS-based two-factor authentication behind a paywall.
Twitter pushing users to subscribe to the Blue service to enhance their Twitter experience has also faced considerable backlash from the platform’s massive user base, which exceeds 450 million individuals.
