Meta to soon launch Web version of Threads in race with Musk's X for users

SAN FRANCISCO - Meta Platforms is set to roll out the Web version of its new text-first social media platform Threads, hoping to gain an edge over X, formerly Twitter, as the initial surge in users waned.

The widely anticipated Web version will make Threads more useful for power users such as brands, company accounts, advertisers and journalists.

Meta did not give a date for the launch, but Instagram head Adam Mosseri said it could happen soon.

"We are close on the Web," Mr Mosseri said in a post on Threads on Friday (Aug 18). The launch could happen as early as this week, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Threads, which launched as an Android and iOS app on July 5 and gained 100 million users in just five days, saw its popularity drop as users returned to the more familiar platform X after the initial rush to try Meta's new offering.

In just over a month, its daily active users on the Android OS dropped to 10.3 million from a peak of 49.3 million, according to a report by analytics platform Similarweb.

Meta is moving quickly to launch new features.

Threads now offers the ability to set post notifications for accounts and view them in a type of chronological feed.

It will soon roll out an improved search that could allow users to search for specific posts and not just accounts. 

ALSO READ: Meta plans retention 'hooks' for Threads as more than half of users leave app

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.