Threads, a social network created by Meta, has reached 500 million monthly users, making it as popular as Elon Musk’s X. The platform has grown in popularity, especially in Asia, with the total time users spend on the app growing 80% in South Korea and 130% in Japan in the last year.

Features and Growth

Threads has introduced community features, such as giving some groups their own official channels on the app, and has started providing ‘community champions’ with special profile designs. The platform has also begun showing ads, in Meta’s first move to make money from the platform.

Connor Hayes, the head of Threads, said the platform had grown with a guiding principle: ‘Follow the intent of users.’ The company has set a goal of reaching 1 billion users, which would make it bigger than Snapchat, with 956 million users.

Comparison to Other Social Media

Threads has been compared to Reddit and X, with users gravitating to specific communities on the platform to discuss various topics, including television episodes, game recaps, and celebrity gossip. The platform has also been described as having a ‘millennial Myspace wild West’ vibe, with a focus on human conversations rather than AI-generated content.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.