Time flies, especially on social media. It’s already been over a year since Threads launched—Meta’s alternative to X (formerly Twitter)—which sparked a huge initial surge of interest in the text-based platform and broke records gaining 10 million users in just seven hours.  Lauded as a welcome return to thought-initiating conversations online, Threads has racked up more than 175 million monthly active users in its first 12 months, but interest has gradually slowed, with the platform now adding around five million active users a month and still lagging some way behind its rival X in daily active users. When Threads first launched, linking user accounts between Instagram and itself, it opened a unique window of opportunity called ‘underpriced attention’, explains Miki Sim, director of platforms and culture at VaynerMedia APAC. “For marketers, it was a prime moment to capture visibility as consumers flocked to explore the new app,” says Sim. “Several of our clients in Australia seized this underpriced attention opportunity, becoming some of the first brands worldwide to establish a presence on Threads, and experiencing good growth and engagement during this period.”  While the growth of Threads has slumped compared to its record-breaking launch, with Elon Musk’s X currently dogged in controversy and haemorrhaging users and advertisers at an alarming rate, experts say this could be the prime opportunity for Threads to pick up the mantle and become X’s genuine rival. “This is the ideal time for Threads to strike while the iron is hot as X becomes a less conducive space for brands and creators to thrive in,” says Elly Lau, behavioural analyst at Canvas8.  “For instance, in Japan, where X has long dominated, users who are frustrated with Elon Musk’s policies have been migrating to Threads as an alternative. While user growth has been tapering in 2024, brands are capitalising on this migration, and we’re seeing companies like Uniqlo and Starbucks buffing up their local market presence on the app.” Upping engagement   Data from We Are Social and Meltwater shows that the average time per month active users spend on Threads is 20 minutes, compared to TikTok’s 31 hours and YouTube’s 28 hours. While engagement might be low as the platform finds its feet and continues to build its user base, Threads is a digital ‘safe space’ that’s relatively untouched by commercial influence making it an ideal platform from a community management point of view.