Meta’s Twitter rival Threads unravels

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An indicator of daily user numbers at Twitter rival Threads has fallen by almost 80 per cent in just over three weeks, according to Similiarweb.

The online analytics company said daily active users on Android mobile devices dropped from 49mn to 11mn. Although figures for Apple’s iOS mobile platform were not included in the analysis, the data provides insight into the challenges involved in creating a rival app to Twitter.

Threads has attracted greater attention than other Twitter rivals like Mastodon and Bluesky, but usage has still fallen.

Following a flurry of interest in the new social media platform, global user numbers on Android went from 6mn on July 5, the day Meta launched the app, to 41mn the following day and then a high of almost 50mn on July 7 — about 45 per cent of the usage of Twitter on the same day.

Across all platforms, Threads acquired 100mn users in five days, a feat that took Twitter 5.4 years to achieve. Critical to its ability to do so was the fact that Instagram, also owned by Meta, was able to leverage its existing audience of 1.4bn to help sign users up to Threads. 

But the number of people using the app has been in steady decline ever since, with daily active users on Android hovering between 11mn and 12mn over the past seven days. Twitter usage on the same platform has been largely unaffected by the launch of Threads. 

X Corp, as Twitter is now known following Elon Musk’s rebrand, had between 107mn and 109mn daily active Android users in the week that followed the launch of Meta’s text based rival. Over the past week that number has ranged from 108mn to 114mn.

Sam Joiner and Justine Williams

Our other charts of the week

Passenger numbers on the London Underground remain significantly below 2019 levels, according to data from the Department for Transport.

The failure of ridership to recover since the pandemic indicates that the shift in commuting patterns may have become permanent. Despite businesses’ efforts to entice them back in to the office, many employees are still opting to work from home, for at least part of the week.

Mondays and Fridays are particularly affected, with on average 26 per cent fewer passengers recorded this year compared with 2019. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays have recovered somewhat more, experiencing a drop of 20 per cent, while weekend traffic has largely returned to previous levels.

Jonathan Vincent

The population of wolves is growing dramatically across Europe, according to estimates from the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.

Thanks to widespread conservation efforts, wolves have returned to many areas where they were previously driven to extinction. In Germany, where the last indigenous wolf was hunted in 1904, there were an estimated 158 wolf packs in 2021.

The success of the wolf revival has not been without controversy. Following a 10-fold increase in attacks on livestock in central Europe, considerable opposition has emerged among farmers and conservative parties. Multiple German states have already relaxed laws governing the culling of wolves, and the European parliament passed a motion in November to consider downgrading wolves’ protected status.

Jonathan Vincent

The Bank of England’s decision last week to raise its base rate to its highest level in more than 15 years brings renewed focus on how willing banks are to pass on rate hikes on to savers, while amending mortgage rates in line with the base rate.

At the beginning of 2022, when the base rate was 0.25 per cent, the average interest rate on an instant-access savings account was 0.2 per cent, according to data compiled by Moneyfacts. Although the base rate now stands at 5.25 per cent, the average return on the same type of account is 2.8 per cent.

By contrast, at the start of the current cycle, when the base rate was 0.25 per cent, the average standard variable rate on mortgages was already at 4.41 per cent. As of August 3, the average SVR stood at 7.85 per cent. According to industry group UK Finance, more than 1.1mn borrowers are on variable rates.

On July 31, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced a new “Consumer Duty” that requires banks and other financial institutions to deliver “fair outcomes” to consumers. The regulator estimates that the cost to banks of compliance with the new regulations could be as high as £2.4bn.

Alan Smith

UK voters are consistent in their support for public ownership in key industries, even where renationalisation would be necessary. The Labour party, currently enjoying a strong lead in the opinion polls, has explicitly ruled out any renationalisation in the water and energy sectors if they win the general election expected next year.

About two-thirds of poll respondents in May this year strongly supported or tended to support public ownership of energy suppliers and train operating companies, with those proportions almost unchanged in YouGov’s annual polls since 2019.

Moreover, 69 per cent thought the public sector should control the water industry in a one-off poll in June, with that support at 66 per cent even among Conservative voters. Only 13 per cent of likely Tory supporters opted for continued private ownership of water companies.

Bob Haslett

The Bank of England’s current round of interest rate rises will hit proportionately fewer UK households with higher mortgage payments than during similar periods in the 1980s.

In 1988, the last time that the central bank commenced such an aggressive tightening policy, almost 40 per cent of households owned their property with a mortgage, compared with under 30 per cent last year.

Almost 35 per cent of today’s households own their own homes outright, 10 percentage points higher than in the 1980s.

Almost a third of British households in 1981 lived in social housing provided by either a local authority or housing association. Today that proportion has halved.

Kristo Mikkonen

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