Threads, the social media app from Facebook and Instagram, due on desktop in 'next few days'
Threads, the newest social media platform from Facebook's parent company Meta, is coming to the web and desktop computers over the next few days, the company says.
Even though Threads, which launched as a mobile app in July, quickly attracted 150 million users, its lack of a desktop version has been seen as a weakness. But Meta on Tuesday offered an update on that front, courtesy of a Threads desktop post from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg with the caption, "Actual footage of me building Threads for web. Rolling out over the next few days."
"Threads is beginning to roll out a new logged-in web experience that lets you post, view your feed, and interact with posts from your desktop," the company said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "The Threads team is working hard to bring this experience to parity with mobile and will be adding more functionality to the web experience in the coming weeks."
What is Threads? How is it doing compared to X, formerly Twitter?
Threads is an extension of Instagram, which has more than 2.3 billion users worldwide. If you have an Instagram account, you can download the Threads app.
Users can post entries on Threads, as well as reply, like and share posts, similar to what is done on X.
Threads was seen as an alternate digital destination as X, formerly Twitter, has faced challenges since Elon Musk bought the social platform in October 2022. The company's advertising business has struggled and there have been mass layoffs, loosened content moderation and a change in the blue-check verification system.
The addition of a desktop version for Threads could help re-energize user traffic, which has fallen since the boisterous launch last month, according to David Carr, senior insights manager at data analytics company Similarweb:
◾ Activity on Threads was down 79% a month after the launch.
◾ Traffic peaked on the Threads Android app at 49.3 million daily active users globally on July 7.
◾ A month later it had fallen to 10.3 million daily active users.
◾ Peak usage for Threads in the U.S. was 2.3 million daily active users on July 7.
◾ By Aug. 7, that number was about 576,000 daily active users.
Time spent on Threads is down, too, Similarweb says.
Initially, the average amount of time daily active users spent with the app started out at about 14 minutes, worldwide, but was "significantly higher in the U.S.," at nearly 21 minutes, the firm said. By Aug. 7, time spent daily had dropped to three minutes. In comparison, X has more than 100 million daily active users on Android and they usually spend about 25 minutes per day.
"None of these statistics mean Threads will not eventually succeed, only that its 'overnight success' was too good to be true," Carr said in the report, posted on Aug. 10.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn and Jennifer Jolly.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Threads web version coming in 'next few days,' Mark Zuckerberg says
