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Mark Zuckerberg planning to add retention ‘hooks’ for Twitter rival, Threads as more than half of its users leave the app

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Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms executives are facing the challenge of boosting retention on their new Twitter rival app, Threads, after it experienced a significant drop in users following its highly publicized launch.

In a company town hall meeting, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that while user retention on the text-based app was better than expected, it was still not at the desired level. With over 100 million sign-ups, the goal is to retain a substantial portion of these users, but achieving that has proven to be a work in progress.

Zuckerberg expressed confidence that retention would improve as more features, such as a desktop version and search functionality, are added to the app. The company is actively exploring strategies to entice users back to Threads through “retention-driving hooks.” For instance, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox mentioned the possibility of integrating Threads with the popular Instagram app to increase engagement.

The focus on improving retention comes on the heels of a positive revenue growth forecast that thrilled investors and boosted Meta’s shares. Despite the challenges with Threads, Zuckerberg reassured employees that the company’s work on augmented and virtual reality technology, which is essential for building the metaverse, was on track.

Anticipating competition from tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of investing in metaverse technology early to stay ahead of the curve. He predicted that mass adoption of metaverse technologies would likely occur in the 2030s.

Additionally, Meta made headlines with the release of an AI model named Llama 2, which has garnered significant interest from developers. The model was made freely available for commercial use to developers with fewer than 700 million users, receiving over 150,000 download requests in just one week.

Regarding rumors of a “cage match” between Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, Zuckerberg appeared uncertain about the possibility, leaving the speculation open-ended.

Despite the challenges and uncertainties, Meta remains focused on innovation and expansion, seeking to maintain its position as a leading tech company in the ever-evolving digital landscape.