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  4. X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the company is 'keeping an eye on everything' that rival Threads is doing

X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the company is 'keeping an eye on everything' that rival Threads is doing

Pete Syme   

X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the company is 'keeping an eye on everything' that rival Threads is doing
Tech2 min read
  • Linda Yaccarino told CNBC "we're keeping an eye on everything" Threads is doing.
  • Meta's rival app quickly amassed 100 million signups but its popularity has waned.

Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X — the company formerly known as Twitter — told CNBC on Thursday "we're keeping an eye on everything" Threads is doing.

Meta launched its Twitter-competitor app in early July and amassed 100 million signups in just five days.

Although less than a month later, Mark Zuckerberg told staff that more than half of Threads users had already stopped using it, Reuters reported.

And according to data from the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Threads ended July with just 8 million daily active users — an 82% drop from its peak.

"It's dropped off dramatically," Yaccarino told CNBC. "But you can never ever take your eye off any competition."

Meta is hoping that adding new features to Threads will help entice users to regularly use the platform, per Reuters.

"X is no stranger to competition, many have tried over the years," Yaccarino added. She said that's because Twitter was "leading the way" by first introducing the likes of hashtags and paid verification.

X is looking to change things up with its "everything app" ambitions, but Yaccarino suggested Threads is focusing on trying to copy how the old Twitter functioned.

Zuckerberg announced Wednesday that Threads was adding new features including directly sharing posts to Instagram direct messages.

Since its hurried release, Threads has also introduced a "for you" feed and the ability to see previously liked posts.

As well as talks of a potential cage match between the two platforms' owners, Elon Musk has fired taunts on the business side of things.

Musk accused Threads of adding an "oppressive" restriction just weeks after Twitter had limited users to viewing 600 posts a day.

He later reused a Meta executive's jibe about Twitter not being "sanely run" in response to concerns over Threads' collection of users' data.

X did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.


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