Threads, the social media (SNS) run by Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is catching up to X (formerly Twitter), the original text-based SNS, as its users in Korea have surged two years after launch. Analysts say the platform is rapidly adding users in Korea as a culture of casual, intimate communication in informal speech within Threads resonates with people in their 20s and 30s.
According to WiseApp Retail on the 20th, Threads' monthly active users (MAU) stood at 6.48 million as of October this year. That was up about 34% (1.65 million) from 4.83 million a year earlier. Compared with August 2023 (1.4 million), right after Threads first launched in the Korean market, the user base has jumped about 4.5 times.
The gap with X has also narrowed significantly. As of last month, X had 7.6 million users in Korea. When Threads first appeared, X had 6.3 million users, five times Threads, but now the difference is down to around 1.2 million.
Globally, Threads' monthly users recently topped 400 million, closing in on X's 600 million. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in April that Threads' monthly users had surpassed 350 million, and in just one quarter, the user base grew by 50 million to well over 400 million.
Industry watchers cite integration with Instagram, already a mainstream SNS, and a platform vibe friendly to people in their 20s and 30s as keys to Threads' popularity. You need an Instagram account to sign up for Threads, and Instagram followers can transfer to Threads easily. From the start, Meta accelerated promotion by surfacing Threads-recommended posts in the Instagram feed, and last year it placed a Threads iKON at the top of the Instagram app to make it easy to move over to Threads.
In Korea, Instagram has 24 million monthly users, with average time spent approaching 18 hours per month. A person in the platform industry said, "By promoting Threads as a sister product to Instagram, which already has a solid user base, and lowering the entry barrier, we were able to bring in users quickly in a short period."
Threads' unique "banmal culture" is also winning support among people in their 20s and 30s. Regardless of age or closeness, communicating in informal speech has become part of Threads' culture, and observers say this friendly atmosphere has helped activate communication among users. Unlike X users, who react quickly to breaking news and current affairs, Threads is filled with posts sharing personal experiences such as dating, marriage, careers, and daily life, making it easy for anyone to approach and for users to build rapport. Some also say posts on Threads are less aggressive in content and tone and contain less hateful content than X.
Meta is rolling out various features to sustain Threads' steep growth trend. This year, Threads introduced direct messages (DM), adding a messenger function, and recently unveiled group chats for up to 50 participants to further strengthen user-to-user communication. It launched "ghost posts," which automatically disappear from the feed after 24 hours, and is preparing a feature that lets users adjust recommended posts themselves.
In July, Meta appointed Connor Hayes, formerly vice president in charge of Generative AI products, to lead Threads. Until then, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri had overseen Threads as well, but as Threads grew larger, Meta named a dedicated leader to manage it. Threads also added in-app advertising features, with plans to enter full-scale revenue generation.