Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg says his new social media platform, Threads, has lost more than half of its users.
Twitter’s rival hit more than 100 million users within five days of its launch earlier this month.
But Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged that those numbers have now dropped.
“If you have more than 100 million subscribers, ideally it would be great if all or even half of them stayed. We’re not there yet,” he said. Mr Zuckerberg – who made the comment in a call to staff heard by Reuters news agency – described the situation as “normal” and said he expected employee retention rates to improve as New features will be added to the app.
The theme has been criticized for its limited functionality, such as on displayed posts and available content.
Meta’s product manager, Chris Cox, told staff his focus right now is on adding more “retention hooks” to bring people back to the platform.
He gives the example of “making sure people using the Instagram app can see the topics that matter.” The two platforms are closely linked – to subscribe to Themes, users must have an Instagram account. Mr. Zuckerberg also informed employees of the company’s massive bet on an as-yet-uncreated virtual reality world called Metaverse.
He said the work on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology that will power it “is not beyond the plan, but is on track”, adding that he Don’t expect it to become popular before the next decade. .
This prediction could add to concerns that Meta has spent too much time and money on Metaverse – its Reality Labs division, which makes VR headsets and other products, has lost money. billion dollars.
Still, the company as a whole continues to perform well financially – announcing this week that it made $7.79 billion in profit last quarter.
Mr. Zuckerberg also addressed another issue that is causing a stir – his proposal for a cage war with fellow tech giant Elon Musk. From the safety of their keyboards, the two men indicated in June that they both wanted a fight – even suggesting a location in Las Vegas.
However, when asked about that during the call, Mr Zuckerberg said he was “not sure if it will materialize”.