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The Social Media War Continues - Metas Threads Tanking · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Hi everybody and welcome to another episode of the Elon Musk
• 0:02
  Podcast where we dissect the complexity of the technology
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  landscape today with a special focus on Meta's newest social
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  media venture, Threads. The application, toted as a
• 0:13
  Twitter killer, set a record-breaking pace by amassing
• 0:16
  an oppressive 100 million downloads within just a few days
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  of its US launch on July 5th. Yet it's been a roller coaster
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  of a ride for Threads. Despite its initial success, it
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  quickly stumbled. And started declining in user
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  engagement in a slew of other challenges.
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  Now we delve into what has been an extraordinary week for
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  threads, from regulatory hurdles barring its availability in the
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  European Union to user complaints about the lack of a
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  chronological feed, which together contributed to a sharp
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  downturn in user activity and time spent on the app.
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  And on the flip side, we explore Meta's response and what the
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  future might hold for the ambitious project and after the
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  break. We'll dive deep into the factors
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  that led to threads dramatic rise and fall, and what it
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  signifies for the larger tech ecosystem.
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  So stay tuned and we'll be right back with more after this
• 1:07
  commercial break. Welcome back, Meta, the tech
• 1:10
  giant formerly knows in his Facebook has recently seen a
• 1:14
  sharp downturn engagement on its newest social media platform,
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  Threads. Despite achieving an impressive
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  user base of 100 million within a few days of its launch,
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  according to data provided by NBC News Sensor Tower in Similar
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  Web, the ambitious project, designed as a direct competitor
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  to Twitter, hit the ground running when it launched in the
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  United States on July 5th. Now, within a week of its debut,
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  user engagement had noticeably plummeted.
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  An expert suggests that the botch roll out and met his
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  attempt to repackage a familiar concept.
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  May have inadvertently damaged the app's chances of longterm
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  success. The analytics from Sensor Tower
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  indicated 20% decrease in daily active users between Saturn and
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  the subsequent Tuesday and Wednesday, mere few days apart.
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  And on top of that, the average time spent on the platform
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  halved, going from 20 minutes to about 10 minutes.
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  Now. Similar webs data painted an
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  even starker picture. Recording a 25% drop in daily
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  active users from its peak on July 7th to the following
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  Monday, all average usage time nose dived over 50% from 20
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  minutes to under 8 minutes. Now despite these concerning
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  figures, Meta spokesperson sought to reassure skeptics in
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  an e-mail to Gizmodo expressing the company's excitement over
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  threads initial success stating while it's early days were
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  excited about the initial success of Threads.
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  Which has surpassed our expectations.
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  We launched the app just over a week ago and our focus now is on
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  ensuring stable performance, delivering new features and
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  continuing to improve the experience in the coming months.
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  Now further complicating the platform's debut is the fact
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  that Threads is currently unavailable in the European
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  Union due to regulatory concerns.
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  This has not stopped eager users from attempting to gain access
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  via VPN's, only to encounter difficulties with Notifications
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  content. And profiles not loading
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  correctly and in response Meta has now started blocking EU
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  users from accessing threads via VPN.
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  According to reports from Engadget.
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  Meta stressed that the EU is an important market, but confirmed
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  that extra measures were being taken to restrict users in the
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  region from accessing the platform.
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  Nevertheless, Metas Threads has seen an unprecedented influx of
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  users. The record setting pace of
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  downloads outstripped even the fastest growing apps in history.
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  Leaving platforms such as Chant, GBT, and The Dust.
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  Unfortunately, this initial success was swiftly marred by
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  several hiccups. Primarily, users have reported
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  dissatisfaction with the feed on the app, and despite the
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  convenient feature of porting Instagram followers to Threads,
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  users found their feed cluttered with seemingly random posts from
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  celebrities, brands, and influencers.
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  This apparent lack of control over the feed and the overly
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  complex algorithm. To prioritize the blend of
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  followed and recommended content over a straightforward
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  chronological timeline spurred widespread ridicule across the
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  digital sphere and may have been the catalyst for the sharp drop
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  in user engagement. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for
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  threads as an apolitical, friendly place has also come
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  under scrutiny, though, especially since deleting
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  threads necessitates the removal of a user's entire Instagram
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  account, an aspect that has not gone down well with a bunch of
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  users. Furthermore, the lack of a
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  desktop client it launched was another glaring omission that
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  may have contributed to the steep fall in usage time.
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  The introduction of a desktop client potentially bolster the
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  amount of time users spend on threads.
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  Now, despite these setbacks though, there is a hope yet for
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  threads. Recent improvements to the apps
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  algorithm have begun to yield a more personalized and relevant
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  feed for users. Nevertheless, the damage has
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  already been done, the disappointing initial user
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  experience. Might have been enough to deter
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  a significant portion of its user base permanently, and even
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  though Threads has accrued A formidable initial user base,
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  the rushed launch and subsequent lackluster user experience may
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  have critically hampered its potential.
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  An inferior product, regardless of a seemingly friendly user
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  base and attractive design can ill afford to compete with an
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  even dwindling Twitter. It remains to be Seed of Meta's
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  efforts to rectify these issues can pave the way for Threads
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  long term success. Threads has made a formidable
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  entry into the social media landscape, positioning itself as
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  a formidable challenger to Elon Musk's Twitter, which reported
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  approximately 240 million monetizable daily active users
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  as of July. And according to the most recent
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  public filing, prior to Musk's acquisition in 2022, those
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  people were monetized. Now, several data tracking
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  platforms have recorded a decline in Twitter's traffic in
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  recent months. Similar web reported an 11% year
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  over year drop in Twitter traffic on July 6th and 7th of
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  2023. Now Arc Invest, a longstanding
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  supporter of Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned in a Monday note that
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  Threads could become a powerful competitor to Twitter.
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  The firm pointed not only to the rapid growth of Threads user
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  base, but also it's considerable engagement with the platform
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  reporting approximately 95 million threads, nearly
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  200,000,000 likes. The first day alone now, they
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  said. Leveraging Instagrams,
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  infrastructure and social graphs with a sleek interface and hints
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  of decentralization at a time when Twitter was being
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  criticized for limiting activity to eat out and eliminate bots,
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  can prove to be a smart marketing entry strategy.
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  Now, they also said, while Meta deserves praise for the most
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  successful online platform launch in history.
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  Only time will reveal if Threads will replicate Stories, victory
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  over Snapchat, or suffer Real's fate as a secondary player to
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  TikTok. I want to say thank you so much
• 7:10
  for listening to the show today. If you enjoyed it, please take a
• 7:13
  second and hit the subscriber follow button on whatever
• 7:15
  podcast platform that you're on right now greatly helps the show
• 7:19
  So, so much, so thank you for doing that.
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  And as always, please take care of yourself and each other and I
• 7:26
  will see you in the next one.