Social media activity on Twitter decreases following updates and the launch of competitor app Threads
In the dynamic world of social media, a new player has emerged, challenging the dominance of Twitter. Meta's response to Twitter, Threads, made a grand entrance, amassing over 70 million users within the first three days of its launch on Thursday. However, this rapid growth has not come without controversy.
Media Matters, a renowned media watchdog, has uncovered the presence of white nationalists and white supremacists on Threads. This revelation has raised concerns about the platform's ability to maintain a friendly and inclusive environment, a factor that Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, believes is essential for success. Zuckerberg has been vocal about his belief that the toxicity of Twitter is a key factor in its lack of success.
Meanwhile, Twitter has been grappling with its own issues. In early July, the platform began forcing users to log in to view tweets and set a rate limit for the number of posts different account tiers could read each day. These changes, introduced by new owner Elon Musk, were aimed at curbing attempts to scrape the website. The initial rate limit was 6,000 for paying users and 600 for non-paying users, but these limits have since been increased, and the login requirement was removed last week.
The changes made by Musk have not been universally welcomed. Some far-right accounts on Threads are attempting to get banned as a badge of honor, while others have flocked to the platform, including white nationalist Richard Spencer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, within 24 hours of its release.
While Twitter has been struggling, its rival, Mastodon, has seen a slight increase in its monthly active users in July, approaching almost two million. Mastodon had been stagnant in active users since earlier this year before its recent increase.
The demand for another Twitter competitor, BlueSky, also increased following Twitter's rate limit change, causing a momentary pause in new sign-ups. BlueSky, currently in beta and requiring an invitation to join, has seen a surge in interest due to the changes on Twitter. The search results do not provide information about which person at BlueSky ordered the suspension of new user registrations following the implementation of Twitter's daily post limits.
Interestingly, Cloudflare's domain server ranking for Twitter has seen a significant drop in mid-2023, according to Matthew Prince, the chief of Cloudflare. This drop coincided with unpopular changes made to Twitter by Elon Musk and the launch of Meta-owned rival platform Threads. Twitter's website traffic has been declining since the start of 2023, according to Cloudflare's data.
In conclusion, the social media landscape is witnessing a shift as new players enter the fray. While Twitter grapples with internal issues and a decline in user base, its rivals Threads and BlueSky are gaining traction. The future of social media remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the battle for dominance is far from over.
