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Hi everybody and welcome to 
another episode of the Elon Musk

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Podcast where we dissect the 
complexity of the technology 

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landscape today with a special 
focus on Meta's newest social 

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media venture, Threads. 
The application, toted as a 

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Twitter killer, set a 
record-breaking pace by amassing

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an oppressive 100 million 
downloads within just a few days

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of its US launch on July 5th. 
Yet it's been a roller coaster 

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of a ride for Threads. 
Despite its initial success, it 

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quickly stumbled. 
And started declining in user 

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engagement in a slew of other 
challenges. 

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Now we delve into what has been 
an extraordinary week for 

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threads, from regulatory hurdles
barring its availability in the 

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European Union to user 
complaints about the lack of a 

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chronological feed, which 
together contributed to a sharp 

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downturn in user activity and 
time spent on the app. 

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And on the flip side, we explore
Meta's response and what the 

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future might hold for the 
ambitious project and after the 

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break. 
We'll dive deep into the factors

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that led to threads dramatic 
rise and fall, and what it 

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signifies for the larger tech 
ecosystem. 

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So stay tuned and we'll be right
back with more after this 

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commercial break. 
Welcome back, Meta, the tech 

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giant formerly knows in his 
Facebook has recently seen a 

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sharp downturn engagement on its
newest social media platform, 

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Threads. 
Despite achieving an impressive 

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user base of 100 million within 
a few days of its launch, 

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according to data provided by 
NBC News Sensor Tower in Similar

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Web, the ambitious project, 
designed as a direct competitor 

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to Twitter, hit the ground 
running when it launched in the 

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United States on July 5th. 
Now, within a week of its debut,

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user engagement had noticeably 
plummeted. 

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An expert suggests that the 
botch roll out and met his 

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attempt to repackage a familiar 
concept. 

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May have inadvertently damaged 
the app's chances of longterm 

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success. 
The analytics from Sensor Tower 

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indicated 20% decrease in daily 
active users between Saturn and 

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the subsequent Tuesday and 
Wednesday, mere few days apart. 

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And on top of that, the average 
time spent on the platform 

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halved, going from 20 minutes to
about 10 minutes. 

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Now. 
Similar webs data painted an 

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even starker picture. 
Recording a 25% drop in daily 

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active users from its peak on 
July 7th to the following 

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Monday, all average usage time 
nose dived over 50% from 20 

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minutes to under 8 minutes. 
Now despite these concerning 

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figures, Meta spokesperson 
sought to reassure skeptics in 

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an e-mail to Gizmodo expressing 
the company's excitement over 

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threads initial success stating 
while it's early days were 

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excited about the initial 
success of Threads. 

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Which has surpassed our 
expectations. 

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We launched the app just over a 
week ago and our focus now is on

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ensuring stable performance, 
delivering new features and 

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continuing to improve the 
experience in the coming months.

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Now further complicating the 
platform's debut is the fact 

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that Threads is currently 
unavailable in the European 

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Union due to regulatory 
concerns. 

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This has not stopped eager users
from attempting to gain access 

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via VPN's, only to encounter 
difficulties with Notifications 

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content. 
And profiles not loading 

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correctly and in response Meta 
has now started blocking EU 

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users from accessing threads via
VPN. 

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According to reports from 
Engadget. 

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Meta stressed that the EU is an 
important market, but confirmed 

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that extra measures were being 
taken to restrict users in the 

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region from accessing the 
platform. 

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Nevertheless, Metas Threads has 
seen an unprecedented influx of 

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users. 
The record setting pace of 

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downloads outstripped even the 
fastest growing apps in history.

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Leaving platforms such as Chant,
GBT, and The Dust. 

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Unfortunately, this initial 
success was swiftly marred by 

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several hiccups. 
Primarily, users have reported 

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dissatisfaction with the feed on
the app, and despite the 

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convenient feature of porting 
Instagram followers to Threads, 

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users found their feed cluttered
with seemingly random posts from

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celebrities, brands, and 
influencers. 

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This apparent lack of control 
over the feed and the overly 

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complex algorithm. 
To prioritize the blend of 

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followed and recommended content
over a straightforward 

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chronological timeline spurred 
widespread ridicule across the 

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digital sphere and may have been
the catalyst for the sharp drop 

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in user engagement. 
CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for

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threads as an apolitical, 
friendly place has also come 

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under scrutiny, though, 
especially since deleting 

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threads necessitates the removal
of a user's entire Instagram 

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account, an aspect that has not 
gone down well with a bunch of 

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users. 
Furthermore, the lack of a 

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desktop client it launched was 
another glaring omission that 

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may have contributed to the 
steep fall in usage time. 

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The introduction of a desktop 
client potentially bolster the 

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amount of time users spend on 
threads. 

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Now, despite these setbacks 
though, there is a hope yet for 

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threads. 
Recent improvements to the apps 

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algorithm have begun to yield a 
more personalized and relevant 

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feed for users. 
Nevertheless, the damage has 

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already been done, the 
disappointing initial user 

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experience. 
Might have been enough to deter 

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a significant portion of its 
user base permanently, and even 

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though Threads has accrued A 
formidable initial user base, 

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the rushed launch and subsequent
lackluster user experience may 

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have critically hampered its 
potential. 

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An inferior product, regardless 
of a seemingly friendly user 

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base and attractive design can 
ill afford to compete with an 

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even dwindling Twitter. 
It remains to be Seed of Meta's 

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efforts to rectify these issues 
can pave the way for Threads 

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long term success. 
Threads has made a formidable 

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entry into the social media 
landscape, positioning itself as

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a formidable challenger to Elon 
Musk's Twitter, which reported 

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approximately 240 million 
monetizable daily active users 

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as of July. 
And according to the most recent

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public filing, prior to Musk's 
acquisition in 2022, those 

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people were monetized. 
Now, several data tracking 

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platforms have recorded a 
decline in Twitter's traffic in 

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recent months. 
Similar web reported an 11% year

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over year drop in Twitter 
traffic on July 6th and 7th of 

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2023. 
Now Arc Invest, a longstanding 

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supporter of Tesla CEO Elon Musk
mentioned in a Monday note that 

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Threads could become a powerful 
competitor to Twitter. 

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The firm pointed not only to the
rapid growth of Threads user 

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base, but also it's considerable
engagement with the platform 

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reporting approximately 95 
million threads, nearly 

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200,000,000 likes. 
The first day alone now, they 

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said. 
Leveraging Instagrams, 

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infrastructure and social graphs
with a sleek interface and hints

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of decentralization at a time 
when Twitter was being 

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criticized for limiting activity
to eat out and eliminate bots, 

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can prove to be a smart 
marketing entry strategy. 

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Now, they also said, while Meta 
deserves praise for the most 

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successful online platform 
launch in history. 

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Only time will reveal if Threads
will replicate Stories, victory 

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over Snapchat, or suffer Real's 
fate as a secondary player to 

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TikTok. 
I want to say thank you so much 

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for listening to the show today.
If you enjoyed it, please take a

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second and hit the subscriber 
follow button on whatever 

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podcast platform that you're on 
right now greatly helps the show

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So, so much, so thank you for 
doing that. 

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And as always, please take care 
of yourself and each other and I

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will see you in the next one.