Meta Platforms Executive Focuses On Increasing Threads User Retention

Meta Platform Inc. CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, wants to keep Threads users. (photo: Instagram @zuck)

JAKARTA - Meta Platform Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday 27 July that Meta Platforms executives are focusing on increasing user retention on their new text-based app, Threads, after losing more than half of users within weeks of its flashy launch, early July.

Zuckerberg said that the user's level of retention on the app was better than expected by the executive, even though it was "inperfect." He spoke at an internal company meeting whose audio was heard by Reuters.

"Of course, if more than 100 million people register, of course it would be extraordinary if all of them, or at least half of them, stay. However, we haven't got there yet," he said.

Zuckerberg stated that the decline in the number of users was considered "normal" and he hoped the retention would increase along with the addition of new features to the app, including desktop versions and search functionality.

"Meta is considering adding more "retention workers" to lure users to return to using the app, such as "ensuring that people in the Instagram app can see important Threads," said Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer.

A company spokesman declined to comment on the meeting.

The executive's comments came a day after Meta brought encouraging news to investors with an estimated positive revenue growth, a sign of recovery for companies facing deep doubts about their massive spending on the metaverse last year when advertising sales plummeted.

The disclosure caused Meta's shares to jump 8% on Thursday, July 27.

Zuckerberg also told employees on the call that he believes the company's work on augmented and virtual reality technology that will drive the metaverse "not too advanced from schedule, but is on track."

Meta, he added, needs to start investing in the work earlier than competitors such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft, given their years of experience in building operating systems for existing products.

"In that way, we will have all the tools ready to use as this metaverse technology is ready to be introduced to the public," he said, estimating that mass adoption of metaverse technology would occur in the 2030s.

Zuckerberg and Cox also highlighted the release of an artificial intelligence model called Llama 2 by the company this month, which was made available free of charge for commercial use for any developer whose services have fewer than 700 million users.

Cox said the model had received more than 150,000 download requests a week since its release.

Responding to a question about the "in a cage fight" proposed against Elon Musk, Zuckerberg said he was "not sure if it would happen."