EXCLUSIVE Don’t count Twitter out just yet! Fewer than HALF of site’s 20 most-followed accounts have jumped ship for Threads – despite Zuckerberg’s new app attracting 100m users in a week
- Big names like Selena Gomez, Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Gates are now threading
- Kim Kardashian and others have set up shop, but haven’t posted on Threads yet
- Some major users, from Lady Gaga to NASA to Barack Obama, haven’t bothered
- READ MORE: Elon Musk’s own Twitter employees are flocking to rival Threads!
Less than Twitter’s Top 20 most followed accounts have made the exodus to Threads, Meta’s new micro-blogging rival service, than you might think.
This past Monday, Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that 100 million people had signed up for the new social media platform in just five days, making it the fastest-growing social network in history.
Driving much of the migration away from Twitter is that its new owner and top tweeter Elon Musk has alienated the platform’s liberal faction with his relaxed approach to content moderation.
Musk’s approach continues to spook advertisers and cut into Twitter’s revenue, which has dropped by around 40 percent since 2022.
But even major celebrities with large followings on Meta’s Instagram are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to joining Threads.
Of the top 20 most followed accounts – which includes people and organizations – just nine have also set up a Threads account.
Of the top 20 most followed Twitter accounts – which includes people and organizations – just nine have also set up a Threads account. Not all of those nine accounts are active on Threads
Meta’s Threads amassed a record-breaking 100 million users just five days after launching
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose philanthropic work has made him a controversial figure among conservatives, has naturally taken to Threads to promote his blog, Gates Notes
Some famous figures with Twitter followings in the hundreds of millions — like former US President Barack Obama (132.6M on Twitter; 36.5M on Instagram), pop icon Rihanna (108.4M; 152M) and three-time World Cup winner Cristiano Ronaldo (108.6; 596M) — haven’t even bothered to set up their Threads account.
Others, like ubiquitous reality star Kim Kardashian and major recording artists Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, have set up their Threads account, but appear to be taking a ‘wait and see’ approach before posting.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose philanthropic work has made him a controversial figure among conservatives, has naturally taken to Threads to promote his personal blog, Gates Notes.
But most of Threads new class of power users and most recognizable Twitter defectors might surprise you.
Brazilian soccer player Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. has led 1.1M of his 62.3M Twitter and 210M Instagram followers to Threads, where the world’s third highest-paid athlete in 2019 is now updating fans on trips to Paris and posting pics of private jets.
Ellen DeGeneres, who has left her 75.3M Twitter followers hanging since April, has fully committed to her move to Threads, where the comedian and long-running, now retired daytime talk show host has joked about recent Emmy nominees and Musk’s politically polarizing reign at Twitter itself.
‘Welcome to Gay Twitter,’ DeGeneres posted to Threads upon joining.
Ellen DeGeneres, who has left her 75.3M Twitter followers hanging since April, has fully committed to her move to Threads, where the comedian and long-running, now retired daytime talk show host has joked about Musk’s politically polarizing reign at Twitter itself
Singer and actress Selena Gomez has pulled 4.8M of her 66.7M Twitter followers and 426M Instagram followers to Threads, posting little more than a cryptic ‘Hi’ along with a selfie. Gomez had not been active on Twitter since May
TIME IT TOOK PLATFORMS TO REACH ONE MILLION USERS
Threads: Around 24 hours
Twitter: Two years
Facebook: Ten months
Instagram: Two and a half months
ChatGPT: Five days
TikTok: Hours
Singer and actress Selena Gomez has pulled 4.8M of her 66.7M Twitter followers and 426M Instagram followers to Threads, posting little more than a cryptic ‘Hi’ along with a selfie. Gomez had not been active on Twitter since May.
While these numbers don’t immediately look like celebrities have prompted the majority of their fans yet to Threads, it’s worth noting how fast Threads has grown compared to its rivals.
By the end of day one, Threads had already amassed a record-breaking 70 million signups — rocketing to more than 100 million by day five.
As Quiver Quantitative estimates that 109 million users have now signed up to Threads, it’s clear this launch is like no other seen before.
Compare these figures to Twitter, which took two whole years to reach a mere one million users before rocketing to 151 million by 2012, more than five years after its launch.
Although Threads is currently missing numerous features, including the ability to delete an account, many have voiced their praise for the so-called ‘Twitter-killer’ app.
One Twitter staffer even admitted Threads was ‘just better’, according to The Daily Beast, adding: ‘I’m going to get fired for this, but I work at Twitter right now and have never really used it. Here’s to a new world!’
Another user complimented the ease of Threads’ registration process, posting: ‘[Not gonna lie] the signup flow was really nice.’
But these employees are not the only ones, as the publication claims that nearly a quarter of a sample of 133 staffers have signed up to the ‘Twitter-killer app’.
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