In the world of social media platforms, Threads is the new kid on the block. Launched by Meta in July 2023, this Twitter lookalike app was meant to provide competition to Twitter (now X) after its rebrand. This microblogging app skyrocketed to popularity and became the fastest downloaded non-game app in history, boasting almost 100 million sign-ups within just 7 days of launching. 

Today, less than a year since its launch, Threads has nearly 160 million users, including influencers and brands. But how has the app fared over the last year? And is it worth it for your brand to invest time into maintaining a presence on Threads? Let’s explore the answers to these questions by diving into the key statistics from IZEA’s ‘Impact of Threads in 2023’ report.

About IZEA

Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, IZEA Worldwide Inc. is a marketing technology platform that helps influencers and content creators connect with brands. Launched in 2006, this platform became the first ever of its kind. Influencers and brands can use IZEA’s platform to foster collaborations. In addition to helping content creators monetize their content, IZEA also helps brands maximize their ROI by helping them run successful marketing campaigns and providing in-depth data regarding the same. 

Research Methodology and Goals

IZEA conducted a survey with 1230 respondents from the U.S to understand the adoption, usage, as well as the impact of Threads, the Twitter rival launched by Meta. All the respondents were required to have an active internet connection. The people surveyed varied in age from 18 to 60+. 

Source: IZEA. 

The goals of this survey were to:

• Provide insights into how Threads was faring among the general populace.
• Help marketers understand the impact of Threads and guide them towards making a decision on whether to include the app in their marketing campaigns. 
• Assist content creators into expanding their reach by informing them about the platform. 

IZEA’s Impact of Threads Report: Key Statistics and Takeaways

Here are some insights on the usage and adoptability of Threads. 

Threads Sign-ups

When asked whether the respondents signed up for Threads within the first 10 days of its launch, 27% of them confirmed that they had. Among these, 32.8% of them belonged to the 18-29 age group, 27.3% were 30-44 years old, and 36% were 45-60 years old, with only 9% being over 60. 

Source: IZEA. 

This shows that Gen X (people aged between 45-60) were more likely to join Threads, with Gen Z following at a close second. Millennials fell somewhere in the middle, while people aged over 60 years were the least likely to join the app. 

When looking at the growth of Threads according to gender, the report found that 33.2% of men had signed up for the platform, compared to only 21.9% of women. Among the men who hadn’t signed up for Threads, 40.4% were aware that such a platform existed, while only 26.4% remained unaware. 

In direct contrast to this, 36.3% of the women who hadn’t created a Threads account were aware of its existence, while 41.8% were unaware of it. 

Source: IZEA. 

Based on these findings, the report concluded that men were 1.5 times more likely to sign up to Threads than women. They were also more aware of the platform, while nearly half of the women surveyed did not even know of its existence. 

Among the respondents surveyed, 29% of them were influencers of some sort, 60.9% of whom had signed up for the microblogging app. Among the content creators who hadn’t signed up, only 16.6% were unaware of the platform. 

Out of the respondents who were not influencers, a mere 13.2% had already created an account on Threads. Awareness of the platform among the rest were split almost equally, with 44.6% being aware of it and 42.2% having not heard of Threads yet. 

Source: IZEA. 

According to this data, the report claimed that people who considered themselves influencers and content creators were 4.6 times more likely to have created a Threads account than regular social media users. 

Threads Usage

Even though the number of Threads users saw a decline after the first week, several social media users were still actively using it, which is what this section focuses on. 

When surveyed regarding their usage of Threads compared to when they first downloaded the app, 66.7% of users revealed that they use the app more than before. Among these, 44.1% of them claimed that their usage had increased significantly. Only 22.2% saw no difference in their usage, while the rest had decreased the time spent on the app. 

At least 71% of the current users anticipated that they will most likely check Threads a minimum of once per day, while only 3.6% claimed that they would rarely (or never) open the app. 

Source: IZEA.

When it came to posting content themselves, 66% of Threads users said that they would post content on the app at least once a day. Among these, a majority of 42% anticipate posting multiple times every day. 

15% of users claimed that they would remain fairly active on the app by posting a few days a week, while only 9% anticipated never posting or posting very rarely.

Among the surveyed respondents, the reasons for joining Threads were divided fairly equally, with curiosity being the primary reason cited by 38.1% of the users. Entertainment as well as wanting a Twitter alternative came in at a close second and third. 

The other reasons were to keep track of current events, following friends and family, sharing their personal thoughts, and following influencers and other content creators. 

Source: IZEA. 

Threads for Influencers and Brands

With influencers being some of the first people to create a Threads account, it is looking more and more like the app will be a great place for influencer marketing. People with active Threads accounts echo this sentiment, with a whopping 89.7% of them thinking the app is a good place for influencers. When it comes to Threads for brands, 90.1% of active users think the app will be a great place. 

54% of social media influencers have already made their mark on Threads by posting a sponsored post. When asked if they plan to monetize their content, 83.5% of the influencers surveyed said yes. In fact, more than half of the influencers  (53.9%) revealed that they had already gotten paid for Threads content. 

Impact of Threads

Since Threads was launched as a direct rival of Twitter, IZEA surveyed the impact of this new app, how its ownership changed people’s views, and whether people prefer Threads over Twitter. 

50% of current users as well as 11.8% of non-users revealed that the ownership of Meta had a positive impact on them, making them want to use Threads more. 

However, when it came to concerns over using the app, 28.5% of all social media users cited that they were wary of Meta’s ownership, while 25.7% of them had privacy and data security concerns. 

Source: IZEA. 

In the face-off between Threads vs. Twitter, the results varied a lot by age. Most of the people aged 18-44 preferred Threads over Twitter, while a large number of people aged 45-60 seemed to prefer Twitter. In a surprising turn of events, people over 60 also preferred Threads. 

Should You Join Threads?: The Verdict

With more than 150 million users in half a year, a number that’s expected to climb up even more, Threads is certainly a great place to establish a brand presence. However, how much time you invest in the app depends on who your target audiences are. 

As we saw above, most baby boomers prefer Twitter to Threads, so if your brand is geared towards that demographic, it might be better for you to work on promoting yourself on Twitter. However, if your target audience belongs to any other demographic, having a strong presence on Threads will probably pay off in the upcoming year.