SAN FRANCISCO - Meta's text-based social media platform, Threads, has surpassed 400 million monthly active users (MAU) just over two years after its launch, marking a significant milestone in its competition with rival platform X.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the achievement on August 12, stating that the platform had exceeded the 400-million user mark "a few weeks ago." This represents a rapid increase of 50 million users in a single quarter, following Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's previous announcement in April that the service had surpassed 350 million MAU.

Launched in July 2023 as a direct competitor to Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter), Threads is now "hot on the heels" of its rival. While Musk claimed X's MAU exceeded 600 million last year, market data indicates a shift in momentum, particularly on mobile. According to market research firm Similarweb, Threads is narrowing the gap in daily mobile users. In June, Threads' daily active mobile app users reached 115.1 million, a 127.8% increase year-over-year, while X saw its user base decline by 15.2% to 132 million during the same period.

However, X maintains a substantial lead in web traffic. In June, X's average global web visits were 145.8 million per day, dwarfing Threads' 6.9 million.

Mosseri credited the platform's evolution, stating that while Threads began as a competitor to X, it has grown into a "meaningful platform where diverse perspectives can be freely exchanged." The platform's growth has been fueled by a series of new features over the past year, including direct messaging, Fediverse integration, custom feeds, and enhanced AI capabilities.