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Lessons I learned from the failure of Threads by Instagram
Are you still using Meta’s Threads? Most likely, no. Almost all of the 130 million users who joined have abandoned it, and Threads seems like a ghost town now.
Just look at the stats on Google Trends (do a search for ‘Threads’)
Threads was once super popular, like at 100%, but now it’s down to a measly 3%!
That’s a massive drop.
There are some critical lessons here for anyone doing business online
Lesson 1: Hype doesn’t equal success. Just because people talk about it doesn’t mean they’ll use it.
Lesson 2: People don’t switch easily from free stuff. Twitter is free, so why leave? Threads needed to be way better.
Lesson 3: The user base is crucial for social apps. Twitter’s value is its users. Threads didn’t get enough big players.
Lesson 4: Don’t oversell a basic product. Threads grew too fast and let everyone down.
End Takeaway
Now, Twitter and Threads are big, but the point is clear: hype only works if your product is good. So, launch your product, listen, and improve.
Also, market it as it grows.
For instance, Bluesky, another Twitter alternative, is on the right path. Slow but steady growth, learning from users. It might challenge Twitter one day.
That’s what we all want in business, right?
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
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1 Reply
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This is a great exercise.
And now that we’ve seen someone else experiment on a large scale (and on their own dime). What would you have done better?
It reminds me of Google+ when it launched. It was so exclusive that when you finally were in there, there was no one there.
Maybe pay companies or media outlets to post in it (Threads)?
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Been waiting to be invited to Bluesky since before even Spoutible launched. Anyone got an invitation (code? I don’t know what it is) I can use to log in to Bluesky?
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Threads was launched what, two months ago? Isn’t it a bit soon to declare it a failure?
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Threads had a huge launch, but at the end of the day it’s not different enough from Instagram, and it has the same problems as Instagram.
My first day logging in, I was super impressed by the seamless way they immediately suggested all of my Insta followers to me. It’s cool to login to a brand new platform and see that you already have 100’s of followers!
But very quickly, my feed was full of absolute trash, from people who I don’t and wouldn’t ever follow. And the comments were full of spam … by like day 3 they had a huge spam in the comments problem.
Then to top it off, within the first week of using the platform, my engagement disappeared. It went from “Wow I already have 500 followers and I’m getting a decent amount of engagement” to “What are all these random posts, and how come I get no engagement at all?”
It’s an instagram spinoff with all of Insta’s problems and nothing new to offer. I posted three days in a row … then like once a week later … and now I haven’t opened it in over a month. It’s a failed platform from my personal POV, although I will wait and see what happens, maybe they’ll create some unique value.
**The biggest takeaway from me?**
**MAKE IT SUPER EASY TO GET ENGAGEMENT.** If you’re showing me random crap, then I assume all of my followers are seeing random crap instead of my content. Simplify the fucking algorithm, show people the content from the people they follow before showing them random “trending” posts FFS. Then the creators will flock to the platform.
What a waste and a shame.
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I don’t understand how to use threads at all people won’t follow you on Instagram I joke that my ex get more followers because how she looks.
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Never used Threads and won’t ever use it. Instagram has enough features that Threads was completely unnecessary
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