Threads, the new social-media service from Meta, reached more than 100 million signups over the weekend, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That means Threads is now the fastest-growing app in history, outpacing both ChatGPT and TikTok.
The 100 million signups represent "mostly organic demand and we haven't even turned on many promotions yet," Zuckerberg posted on Threads on Monday morning. "Can't believe it's only been 5 days!"
ChatGPT previously held the crown as the fastest-growing consumer app in history, amassing 100 million monthly active users within two months. TikTok required nine months after its debut to build the same user base, while Instagram took more than two years to build up to 100 million users.
Threads has been called a "Twitter killer" because of the expectation that many people will migrate away from Twitter in favor of the new social media service. But Threads still lacks many of the services available on Twitter, such as the ability to directly message other users or to use hashtags.
"While Threads' 100 million users in less than a week doesn't equate to full usage or likely near enough content — yet — it's certainly off to a terrific start," noted Brad Erickson, internet equity analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a Monday research note.
The new service debuted at a critical time for Twitter, which has alienated some users with recent decisions under billionaire owner Elon Musk, who bought the service late last year. An intense backlash was sparked by Musk's recent move to throttle usage for some nonpaying members, limiting free accounts to reading 600 tweets per day.
Threads is looking "to strike while the iron is hot and adoption is virally ramping," Erickson added.
Meta gave Threads a huge jump start by integrating it with Instagram, which has 2 billion users, dwarfing Twitter's roughly 500 million worldwide users. Threads is allowing Instagram users to automatically follow their users on the new service, giving it a quick boost in amassing new signups.