100 MILLION... in 5 Days!
Meta's Threads (a.k.a. the Twitter-killer?) managed to attract over 100 million users in just five days, an unprecedented adoption rate.
This great chart from Visual Capitalist shows just how impressive that accomplishment actually is relative to other apps we all know and love.
Sure, the fact that you sign up for Threads via your Instagram account certainly helped that rapid growth: Instagram has 1.4 billion users!
But exactly how did Threads manage to achieve such rapid growth and hit that 100 million user mark so quickly?
There are a few specific things to keep in mind...
1. Threads wasn't first... and that rarely matters.
Business history has shown us time and time again that a "fast follower" often beats a "first mover" because the fast follower often avoids the mistakes that the leader inevitably makes.
Granted, Meta isn't exactly a start-up: with a market capitalization of almost $800 billion (as of this writing), it has the resources to effectively compete with the established player, an advantage many upstarts can't claim.
Still, to win against an established player, you first have to decide you want to compete.
And to do that, it helps to remember that "first" doesn't guarantee victory in any way.
Facebook is a perfect example of this: do you remember MySpace, arguably the first social media network? Exactly.
2. Innovating within your area of expertise gives you a head start.
Meta (brilliantly) leveraged its existing (successful) product as a launchpad to a new product.
Will SOME people be upset that they need an Instagram account to access Threads?
Probably.
But the advantages of using these 1.35 billion people as a running head-start for the platform instead of trying to start from zero likely far outweigh any pushback they'll get.
3. When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Door!
It's difficult to argue that Threads isn't a copycat of Twitter.
But it's also tough to dispute the fact that if Twitter hadn't turned into a clown-car-on-fire over the past year, there wouldn't really be any consumer need for Threads.
Zuck + Co saw an open door, and they ran through it.
And you have to give them credit for that.
Will Threads be successful in the long run?
There's no way to be certain.
But they're sure as heck off to a solid start.
