What If the Next Big Social Media App Is ... Nothing?
As Twitter sputters, Threads, Bluesky and many others try to capture an audience that would rather log off.
Have you heard about the hot new social media app, from the makers of Facebook? It’s called Threads, and some pretty big names are already on board: Tom Brady, fresh off a spokesmodel gig for a failed and possibly fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange, is there, alongside a roster that includes aging boy band members, various Kardashians, rise-and-grinders, thirst trappers, crypto bros, brand managers, #brands, and—slotting nicely into this murderer’s row of declining relevance—the co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.
To be fair, it’s early. Zuckerberg, who recently emerged from paternity leave posing as a jacked-up cage fighter, has been busy quoting the Backstreet Boys, sucking up to mixed martial artists and bragging about Threads’ every success. His company, now known as Meta Platforms Inc., released Threads in the iPhone and Android app stores the evening of July 5. Two hours later, Zuckerberg said 2 million people had signed up. By the next morning, the figure was 10 million. He posted again around noon with an update: 30 million, which “feels like the beginning of something special.” It was at 100 million by July 9.