Tinubu, over 30 million users join Threads App on first-day launch
Story from Musa Sakinat Abubakar
Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, along with former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has joined 30 million users on Meta’s new platform, Threads.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has set its goal to reach one billion users in the near future. Threads, which was launched in over 100 countries last Thursday, has already achieved 30 million users according to Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
Within the first two hours of its launch, the app saw two million sign-ups, which increased to five million within the first four hours. By the time Zuckerberg made the announcement on the app at 4 pm Nigerian time, Threads had reached 10 million sign-ups.
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In his message on the app, Zuckerberg remarked, “Wow, 30 million sign-ups as of this morning. Feels like the beginning of something special, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead to build out the app.”
Comparatively, other social media platforms took varying amounts of time to reach 10 million users: Google+ achieved it in 16 days, ChatGPT in 40 days, Clubhouse in 347 days, Instagram in 355 days, Twitter in 780 days, and Facebook in 852 days.
The launch of Threads comes amidst growing concerns and criticism surrounding Elon Musk-owned Twitter, leading to the search for alternative platforms.
When asked if Threads could surpass Twitter in popularity, Zuckerberg responded, “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversation app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will.”
Reports suggest that once Threads crosses the milestone of one billion users, it may become a monetized platform. Zuckerberg stated, “Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to one billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point.”
Currently, Twitter boasts around 450 million users. Notable public figures, celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, and media outlets like The Washington Post and The Economist have already joined Threads.
However, the app is yet to be released in Europe due to concerns over data privacy. Meta has faced strong criticism in Europe regarding its handling of personal data, and this may delay the launch in the region.
