--- title: "Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter Killer Crushes 100 Million Users in Just 5 Days" description: "To the Moon The explosive popularity of Facebook-formerly-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's \"Twitter Killer\" app, Threads, continues to skyrocket. The Verge reports that as of this morning, the text-based Instagram app has officially surpassed 100 million users. The app was released only five days ago; ChatGPT, the former record-holder for fastest-growing app, comparatively made 100 million […]" date: "2023-07-10" modified: "2023-07-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerberg-twitter-killer-100-million-users" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "the digest" - "threads" --- # Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter Killer Crushes 100 Million Users in Just 5 Days ![The explosive popularity of Facebook-formerly-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "Twitter Killer" app, Threads, continues to skyrocket.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## To the Moon The popularity of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "Twitter Killer" app Threads [continues to skyrocket](). As [*The Verge* reports](), as of this morning, the text-based Instagram spin-off has officially surpassed 100 million users. And that's despite having been released only five days ago. In comparison, ChatGPT, the former record holder for the fastest-growing app, [took two months]() to get to 100 million users. And users aren't just signing up and ghost-scrolling out of curiosity. They're also extremely active on the platform, with [*The Verge* reporting]() last week noting that the platform had raked in 95 million posts and 190 million likes by Friday. Though Threads' swift adoption can in large part be attributed to Meta's already-massive social media market share, it's still a huge boon to Zuckerberg and Meta. Between several rounds of [mass Meta layoffs](), Zucko's flailing [metaverse money pit](), and [revenue dips](), last year was rough for the Facebook founder and his company. In short, Zuckerberg needed a win — and it's starting to look like he may finally have gotten one. ## Well-Trafficked Laurels Still, for all of Threads' apparent success, its creators seem to be keeping their focus on the long game. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but we don't even know if this thing is retentive yet," Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, who led the effort, [threaded]() — is that we're calling it? — in response to an [optimistic Threads post]() from former Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. "We couldn't be more psyched about launch week, but it's also important that we have perspective about what matters over the long run." ## Healthy Coping Mechanisms Threads' meteoric success is notably backdropped by [rapidly declining traffic]() at its main competitor Twitter. Musk's purchase of the text-based platform — which has been characterized by [mass firings](), [eroding trust and safety](), [nonsensical product launches](), [anti-janitor leanings](), and an [all-around crumbling site infrastructure]() — finally gave Zuck and Meta a real opening to enter the Twitter clone contest. Musk, for his part, spent the weekend tweeting things like "[Zuck is a cuck]()" and, in just two or so weeks after [challenging Zuck to a cage fight](), suggested that the tech billionaires might also partake in a "[literal dick measuring contest]()." Healthy stuff. **More on Threads:** [*Mark Zuckerberg Tweets for First Time in 11 Years to Mock Elon Musk*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()