https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/13/meta-threads-engagement-has-dropped-off-sensor-tower-similarweb.html
Facebook's Twitter-killer, Threads, has seen drops in daily active users and time spent on app, according to SensorTower and SimilarWeb.
That's because the algorithm doesn't favor the users, it favors the algorithm itself, brands, and celebrities. Just like with Instagram's AI recommendations, that is. There is no point dabbling into such apps. It's the equivalent of a tree falling in the forest and no one's there to hear it. I had the same problem with BlueSky btw: Crickets... Long live the chronological, federated media!
This is exactly what I was going to say. The feed on Threads is absolutely abysmal. Just an endless stream of bullshit that I don't want to see. That might improve in the future as they continue to update the app and its feed algorithms, but as of right now it's pretty terrible at showing the user content that they're interested in.
Did all the big lemmy instances defederate with threads? I remember it being discussed, but I must have missed the conclusion… but it must have worked out that way, because I have not seen any content from Meta’s instance anywhere
Threads doesn’t yet support ActivityPub, that’s supposed to come down the road. Some instances have preemptively blocked Meta though, yes.
Forgive me if this is a n00b question (to be fair, I only came to lemmy a few weeks ago, and learned of Lemmy a few weeks before that), but I thought ActivityPub was a core element of the Lemmyverse, and the fediverse in general? I thought one of the main points of Threads was that they were going to try to integrate with our whole ecosystem (that is, before all reasonable instance admins decided “fucc the zucc”)?
New here myself, still trying to take it all in. I’m not really sure how Threads works without ActivityPub, I just recall reading that they plan to incorporate it later. And at that time it will integrate with the fediverse wherever it isn’t blocked.
Aside- I’m really enjoying it around here so far! I’m set up with Memmy and Ice Cube, and I’ve got my eyes on Artemis for kbin. Initially I was really hoping Reddit would reconsider their API position so I could get back on Apollo, but things are self-sustaining enough around here that I’m happy to be here instead. I actually did do the personal API Apollo sideload so I do have access to Reddit via Apollo, but I’ve been spending about 5 minutes a day there at best. Account deletion is next.
Yeah… the lemmy dev + hosting community is gonna have to really stay on the ball and proactively block things, lest we allow Meta’s tendrils to infiltrate the rest of the ecosystem.
Might not be a bad idea to put a default blacklist in the next release, if one doesn’t already exist - or at least maintain a reasonably small set of obvious default blacklists on another repo somewhere (e.g. block meta, block “free speech” instances, block nsfw instances, etc).
I do realize that this will exacerbate fediverse fragmentation… but there is a valid use-case for all of those, and I haven’t been able to think of a better solution in the last week or two.
Have had no engagement issues on bluesky at all, seems pretty lively and people like to talk.
There is literally nothing the user can do to curate their experience on Threads. No matter who you follow or who you mute, your feed is a neverending firehose of complete bullshit. It's straight into the bin for me.
I already deleted the App lol.
No feed for only who you follow kills it for me. I do not care to see Threads/tweets of people I don't follow or have any interest in.
Edit: Typos
This is the same reason I uninstalled the Facebook app eons ago. It got so bad, every 3rd post was an ad or a "suggested page" and the option to go to my preferred view (sort by most recent, friends only) was buried in 4 layers of clicks. I was able to get around this for a while by bookmarking the "most recent" feed on the mobile site but that now just redirects to the front page. I don't even look at Facebook any more, I just keep it around because I still get event invitations.
But of course, the developers are going to get the completely wrong message from this dropoff in engagement...
Is it really ‘the fastest growing app’ if you can just port over all your info from instagram?
I really only used reddit, Lemmy now. I didn't even know what threads was until a few days ago. All I need to know is that it's Facebook, nothing I want a part in. I have seen the ridiculous amounts of information they want to collect. No thank you.
FaceHook is a perpetual stream of crap. The minute any instance federates them, is a big ole wave bye from me.
yeah, being able quickly check something on a new device, without tedious logging process is a must for successful social media.
At some point i stopped complaining to my friend that the facebook links he sends me always end up in error and don’t show anything.
But, he added, Sensor Tower data suggests a significant pullback in user engagement since Threads’ launch: On Tuesday and Wednesday, the platform’s number of daily active users were down about 20% from Saturday, and the time spent for user was down 50%, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
I am not yet sure, that people really want to hear what other people have to say, when all the reason they followed them on insta in the first place was because of their looks. Some of the insta models (man & woman) might be nice to look at, but as soon as they open their mouth and try to construct a coherent sentence about a political or societal problem, they really quickly unmask what kind of soft wood they are made of. If the follower is made of the same wood, it might work, but then again, I would argue that writing and reading is not the first passion of both sides of the conversational partners. We will see...
Why would anyone expect sustained ultra-high growth after the most engaging and high profile moment of the application's lifecycle has passed...? Are they supposed to gain 30m users every Tuesday from now on?
This is just a normal new product engagement pattern. Especially in a market where you're dealing with parity products.
People hear the hype, so checkout the product. They spend a few days kicking the wheels and comparing it to what they already have. Then people return to old habits and old products.
The tech news has lost its mind with respect to these things, trying to excitedly report on every minor fluctuation in web traffic. I don't hold the business press in any esteem, but I did expect them to not fall into the same trap on this one.
Guess I was wrong.
Yeah i'm really surprised this is even news, it would have been much more surprising had engagement stayed super high.