Elon Musk’s social media platform X has been facing an exodus of advertisers ever since the billionaire faced backlash for seeming to support an antisemitic post on the app. Amid the backlash, it seems that Mark Zuckerberg’s new platform Threads is starting to sprout again, according to new data from app analytics company Apptopia, which was obtained by TechCrunch.
Since Nov. 23, daily downloads of Threads, a competitive clone of X, have increased to 620,00 from 350,000 which was cited earlier that same month, according to the new data. Also, the data reveals that X gained 27 million new app downloads compared to the 41 million Threads gained since September. Apptopia cites the main reason for the increase in users is likely due the success of Meta's advertising campaigns for the app.
Related: Threads threatens X with upcoming competitive feature
Currently, Musk is continuing to face backlash for responding to a Nov. 15 post on X where a user claimed that "Jewish communities" have been pushing "hatred against whites." Musk replied to the post by saying “You have said the actual truth.”
You have said the actual truth
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023
This exchange online prompted a slew of advertisers such as Walmart, Disney, Apple, IBM, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Discovery and more, to withdraw spending from X en masse. The platform could lose up to $75 million in revenue as a result from the exits, according to a New York Times report.
Musk eventually apologized for the the post but scoffed at the boycott during an appearance at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York and claimed that “the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company” and that it will be documented “in great detail.”
In September, it was reported that Zuckerberg's Threads was struggling to gain new users after it launched in July, gaining around 30 million users within the first few hours of its debut.
But the recent backlash and advertiser exodus from X could be part of the reason why Threads has seen a boost in users in recent weeks. It has also been reported that some of the advertisers that have recently left X has switched to Threads and has been "actively posting" on the platform, according to CNN.
Threads' recent bump in users could be profitable for the platform and help it reach its goal of having a billion active users.
“I’ve thought for a long time that there should be a billion-person public conversations app that’s a bit more positive, and I think that if we keep at this for a few more years then I think we have a good chance of achieving our vision there,” said Zuckerberg in a third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 25.
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