https://daringfireball.net/2023/08/whats_the_deal_with_sensor_tower
The news media so badly wants to know usage data that they just accept Sensor Tower and other such firms’ pronouncements at face value, without ever describing — let alone questioning — how they ostensibly know what they claim to know about very private data.
Wild seeing Gruber, of all people, spending the last week(s) defending a meta product and refuting negativity about it.
That and his seemingly concerning hatred for Europe because Threads hasn't launched there yet...
I don’t think he’s defending a Meta product as much as he is calling out Sensor Tower for being scummy at best if not full of shit.
The negativity was pretty asinine though. Nothing he said, I think, was wrong. I remember Mastodon people (rightfully) reacting quite annoyed at similar reports on how usage had peaked and was dropping again, just because not all the new users stuck around.
The news industry falling for completely made-up metrics about social media engagement is the most Charlie-Brown-kicking-a-football ass thing I can think of.