Meta's Threads Challenges Twitter For Users' Attention In Social Media Battle, Engagement Study Finds

The battle for users’ attention is heating up in social media. Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc META launched Threads — a platform eerily similar to Elon Musk's Twitter — which boasts itself as a text-centric answer to Instagram.

How is Threads engagement doing as compared to Twitter? WebsitePlanet, a content portal for business individuals looking to build or improve an online presence, aggregated data from 30 brands, each with an active presence on both Twitter and Threads to determine which is the early winner in terms of engagement.

WebsitePlanet focused on companies that sent out identical posts on both platforms and different ones published at the same time. The performance of each post was evaluated based on key metrics including followers, likes and replies.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Despite its July 5 launch, Threads already grabbed eyeballs and followers, albeit not as many as its veteran rival, Twitter.

The study found news brands on Threads, for instance, have just about 1% of their Twitter follower count. The more popular brands in other sectors seem to have a stronger start on Threads, with Red Bull, for example, already amassing 15% of its Twitter following.

What’s more, Threads seems to be outpacing Twitter when it comes to generating likes. About 87% of the analyzed brands received more likes on Threads than on Twitter, with the average brand raking in eight times more likes on the new platform.

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Let’s take a deeper dive into the data: From the 30 brands, 20 made identical posts on both platforms. While Twitter had higher overall likes for the posts, Threads showed a higher engagement rate and an average number of replies. Only five brands — Universal Pictures, owned by Comcast Corporation CMCSA; The New York Post, owned by News Corp NWSA; Elle Magazine US; McDonald's Corp MCD, and Thomson Reuters Corp TRI — had more comments on Twitter than on Threads.

There were 10 brands that took a different approach, tailoring content for each platform and posting at similar times. Again, Threads led the pack in terms of overall likes, replies, and engagement rate. Netflix Inc NFLX, a clear winner, had a staggering 256 times more replies on Threads than Twitter, with a 3.72% engagement rate.

So, what’s the takeaway from the data? While Twitter’s well-established user base and 15-year tenure make it an industry giant, Threads is emerging as a promising newcomer. As it gathers momentum, it could open up avenues for brands to connect with an even broader audience.

Yet, Twitter and Threads are strikingly similar in their core features — for now. Musk's legal watchdog, Alex Spiro, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Zuckerberg on Thursday, accusing Threads of poaching former Twitter employees, and IP theft.

The novelty factor seems to be in Threads’ favor, as even with only 10 of the 30 analyzed brands tailoring unique content for it, they all received significantly higher engagement than on Twitter, regardless of whether the posts were identical.

It’s still the early days for Threads, and it’s got quite the task ahead to keep up this promising start. But if Zuckerberg's recent accomplishments are anything to go by — namely the Metaverse — Threads might be up for the challenge.

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