4 ms·

First of all, I doubt the premise of this entirely, e.g. Pokémon Go almost certainly had higher DAU weeks after it launched (and it was growing rather than shri

First of all, I doubt the premise of this entirely, e.g. Pokémon Go almost certainly had higher DAU weeks after it launched (and it was growing rather than shrinking). But secondly, I'm skeptical that it's even fair to talk about Threads stats using the same measurements as any "new" app, since it's really an extension of Instagram. You don't make a new account for Threads, you just use your Instagram account. They are one and the same, the only difference being which app you use to access which features. It's most closely analogous to Facebook and the Messenger app - do you count the users of each of those separately?

jyxent 3y ago
Pokemon Go had a similar peak and decline after initial launch: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37176782 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37176782
charcircuit 3y ago
>You don't make a new account for Threads, you just use your Instagram account. If I implement Google oauth into my app, it doesn't make my app an extention of Google. It just reduces the friction of people making a new account for my app.
- lxgr 3y ago
  Google login does not give you a social graph.
  - gpm 3y ago
    Does instagram give you the right social graph for a twitter replacement though? It seems to me that you want to follow pretty different kinds of people on different forms of social media.
    - lxgr 3y ago
      It sure beats having to bootstrap one, would be my hunch. Even just having a few people automatically followed can make a difference, even if most people diverge quickly after joining.
      - justusthane 3y ago
        Hmm, not for me. I’m a pretty casual IG user, but I am following 500+ accounts, all of which I enjoy. My first experience with Threads (despite importing my IG profile) was a feed full of accounts I had never heard of before, and almost nothing from the accounts I follow. Granted, that’s probably because the accounts I follow weren’t posting Threads yet, but but even now things haven’t changed much in that regard. Additionally, 90+% of my Threads feed is photos, so, like, what’s the point? I’ve opened it a couple of times and scrolled for maybe 30 seconds and lost interest. I’m sure if I put a little effort into it I could find more interesting accounts to follow, but at least in my experience the “bootstrapping” hasn’t really worked.
        monetus 3y ago
        > I’m sure if I put a little effort into it I could find more interesting accounts to follow Plenty of good developer-focused content now, and they implemented a following-only feed. Worth having, for me so far.
        tosrn 3y ago
        Curious about this: any developers focused account you’d recommend?
markdown 3y ago
Yes, this was a massive miss-step IMO, and will be their unthreading. I and half the people I know on Twitter are not owners of Instagram accounts. It's absurd to require Insta to login to Threads.
- user_named 3y ago
  If you think like this you're engineerbrained and don't live in the real world. The account linking was a quick fix, the app was released early, and the accounts will not be forcibly linked later on. You won't need an Instagram account to sign up to Threads. But still, if you don't have one, just sign up to Instagram as you would Threads, and you already have your account made.
  - markdown 3y ago
    .
    - user_named 3y ago
      You already know that Threads and Instagram accounts are linked, that you need an Instagram account and then login to Threads with that. So what you claim to be a problem isn't a problem because you and every other prospective user knows how to create a Threads account. Porting over the Instagram graph to Threads is literally how they created the network effect that made it the fastest growing app ever. Engineerbrained.
  - barneygale 3y ago
    If a structural engineer points out that a bridge is unsafe, you don't call them "engineerbrained" and gesture at all the motorists still using the bridge. Why do we accept this bollocks in software engineering? Meta are not trustworthy and it's reasonable to want nothing to do with them.
    - waterhouse 3y ago
      > Meta are not trustworthy and it's reasonable to want nothing to do with them. I agree, but will that prevent the majority of the public from signing up? A bridge will collapse regardless of what the motorists think, but people being ignorant of Meta's misdeeds does mean that Meta's untrustworthiness won't—can't—factor into their decision regarding signups. Maybe Meta will make the news again with another scummy decision, and maybe that'll drive users away—but how many? I suspect it's a small fraction. 'Course, one might be able to make the argument about "the most important N% of users who create most of the content", who are also unusually savvy... I don't know empirical details here.
madeofpalk 3y ago
> I'm skeptical that it's even fair to talk about Threads stats using the same measurements as any "new" app, since it's really an extension of Instagram. Well, you could compared it to Instagram's previous Threads app, which no one used https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/instagram-will-shut-down-its-companion-app-threads-by-year-end/ https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/instagram-will-shut-down-i...

jyxent 3y ago

Pokemon Go had a similar peak and decline after initial launch: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37176782 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37176782

charcircuit 3y ago

>You don't make a new account for Threads, you just use your Instagram account. If I implement Google oauth into my app, it doesn't make my app an extention of Google. It just reduces the friction of people making a new account for my app.

lxgr 3y ago
Google login does not give you a social graph.
- gpm 3y ago
  Does instagram give you the right social graph for a twitter replacement though? It seems to me that you want to follow pretty different kinds of people on different forms of social media.
  - lxgr 3y ago
    It sure beats having to bootstrap one, would be my hunch. Even just having a few people automatically followed can make a difference, even if most people diverge quickly after joining.
    - justusthane 3y ago
      Hmm, not for me. I’m a pretty casual IG user, but I am following 500+ accounts, all of which I enjoy. My first experience with Threads (despite importing my IG profile) was a feed full of accounts I had never heard of before, and almost nothing from the accounts I follow. Granted, that’s probably because the accounts I follow weren’t posting Threads yet, but but even now things haven’t changed much in that regard. Additionally, 90+% of my Threads feed is photos, so, like, what’s the point? I’ve opened it a couple of times and scrolled for maybe 30 seconds and lost interest. I’m sure if I put a little effort into it I could find more interesting accounts to follow, but at least in my experience the “bootstrapping” hasn’t really worked.
      - monetus 3y ago
        > I’m sure if I put a little effort into it I could find more interesting accounts to follow Plenty of good developer-focused content now, and they implemented a following-only feed. Worth having, for me so far.
        tosrn 3y ago
        Curious about this: any developers focused account you’d recommend?

markdown 3y ago

Yes, this was a massive miss-step IMO, and will be their unthreading. I and half the people I know on Twitter are not owners of Instagram accounts. It's absurd to require Insta to login to Threads.

user_named 3y ago
If you think like this you're engineerbrained and don't live in the real world. The account linking was a quick fix, the app was released early, and the accounts will not be forcibly linked later on. You won't need an Instagram account to sign up to Threads. But still, if you don't have one, just sign up to Instagram as you would Threads, and you already have your account made.
- markdown 3y ago
  .
  - user_named 3y ago
    You already know that Threads and Instagram accounts are linked, that you need an Instagram account and then login to Threads with that. So what you claim to be a problem isn't a problem because you and every other prospective user knows how to create a Threads account. Porting over the Instagram graph to Threads is literally how they created the network effect that made it the fastest growing app ever. Engineerbrained.
- barneygale 3y ago
  If a structural engineer points out that a bridge is unsafe, you don't call them "engineerbrained" and gesture at all the motorists still using the bridge. Why do we accept this bollocks in software engineering? Meta are not trustworthy and it's reasonable to want nothing to do with them.
  - waterhouse 3y ago
    > Meta are not trustworthy and it's reasonable to want nothing to do with them. I agree, but will that prevent the majority of the public from signing up? A bridge will collapse regardless of what the motorists think, but people being ignorant of Meta's misdeeds does mean that Meta's untrustworthiness won't—can't—factor into their decision regarding signups. Maybe Meta will make the news again with another scummy decision, and maybe that'll drive users away—but how many? I suspect it's a small fraction. 'Course, one might be able to make the argument about "the most important N% of users who create most of the content", who are also unusually savvy... I don't know empirical details here.

madeofpalk 3y ago

> I'm skeptical that it's even fair to talk about Threads stats using the same measurements as any "new" app, since it's really an extension of Instagram. Well, you could compared it to Instagram's previous Threads app, which no one used https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/instagram-will-shut-down-its-companion-app-threads-by-year-end/ https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/17/instagram-will-shut-down-i...