Meta’s Threads now appears to be more popular with mobile users than Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter.
As reported by Tech Crunch via market intelligence firm Similar Web, Threads is garnering more daily usage on mobile devices than X, its main rival platform. According to usage data, Threads has 141.5 million daily active users on Android and iOS devices, as of January 7. X, meanwhile, has 125 million daily active users across mobile devices.
While it would be easy to suggest that this is a result of Musk’s constant controversies, especially the worrying rise in AI-generated sexual images on his platform, it’s also worth considering that Threads has been integrated in Meta’s photo and video-sharing platform, Instagram. It’s also heavily promoted on Meta’s Facebook. Since launching in July, 2023, Threads has introduced many features including DMs, disappearing posts, and the option for followers to join communities based on their interests.
The number of daily mobile users on X has declined over the past year, though, steadily lowering from its peak of almost 150 million to 125 million. X still beats out Threads when it comes to web users, however, but it’s clear that less people are seeing value in an increasingly hostile platform. BlueSky, another competitor to X, also saw an increase in downloads over the past month, according to market intelligence firm Appfigures.
In August last year, Meta announced that Threads had as many as 400 million monthly active users, and revealed in October that it had 150 million daily active users. Web usage of X is still relatively low, which isn’t surprisingly considering it was developed as an app-focused experience first and foremost. X saw 145.4 million daily web visits this past week, while Threads saw just 8.5 million daily web visits.
The news comes just as California Attorney General Robert Bonta sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering Musk’s xAI to stop producing sexual deepfake content with its Grok chatbot. "The avalanche of reports detailing this material — at times depicting women and children engaged in sexual activity — is shocking and, as my office has determined, potentially illegal,” said Bonta.
Musk’s platform has been on the receiving end of a widespread backlash after users used Grok to produce nonconsensual sexually suggestive images of women and minors.