Threads plans launch of web version of app next week: Report

Meta Platforms is planning to launch the web version of its microblogging app Threads, reported the Wall Street Journal on Sunday (August 20), citing people familiar with the matter.

The move from the platform comes just when it is struggling to retain users. The launch of Threads created quite a buzz but the app lost more than half of its users in weeks that followed the launch.

Last month, Zuckerberg told employees during an internal company town hall that retention of users was better than what executives expected but it was "not perfect".

"Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We're not there yet," he said as quoted by Reuters.

Zuckerberg said that the drop in the number of users was "normal" and expected retention to grow as more features get added, including the desktop version.

Chief Product Officer Chis Cox has said that Meta is looking at the addition of more "retention driving hooks".

Reuters said that a company spokesperson declined to comment on the town hall meeting.

The executives' comments came a day after Meta wowed investors with a rosy revenue growth forecast, a sign of a comeback for a company that faced deep scepticism over its hefty spending on the metaverse last year as ad sales plummeted.

This boosted Meta's shares by eight per cent.

Zuckerberg has told Meta employees that Meta's work on Metaverse was "not massively ahead of schedule, but on track."

He added that Meta needed to invest in that work ahead of other tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Google.

"That way, we have all the tools ready for when this is ready for prime time," he said, predicting that mass adoption of metaverse technologies would take place in the 2030s.