Threads’s chess match against X, formerly called Twitter, continues with the launch of its polls and GIF features on Thursday. The additions bring to Threads two staples that are widely used on X and are yet another change Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced on the platform in recent weeks.
Zuckerberg expressed his excitement over the new features in a Threads post Thursday, accompanied by a GIF featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer and the caption: “How I feel about polls and GIFs rolling out today on Threads.” He posted a separate poll – which only shows up on the mobile app, not the website – that gives three options and allows users to vote in real-time.
The feature works similarly to polls posted on Instagram Stories but with the addition that the app will send a notification to users who voted when the poll ends.
The GIFs and polls options follow several other recent additions to Threads including a web-based version of the app, an edit button, profile switching, likes, a chronological feed, and more.
Threads’ additions come after Zuckerberg told investors during an earnings call on Wednesday that he projects the app will reach one billion users. The projections may sound shocking considering Threads currently has less than 100 million monthly active users, but Zuckerberg says at the current growth rate, the number of users could reach his expectations within just a few years.
“We’re three months in now, and I’m very happy with the trajectory,” Zuckerberg said on the call. “I’ve thought for a long time that there should be a billion-person public conversations app that is a bit more positive. And I think that if we keep at this for a few more years, then I think we have a good chance of achieving our vision there.”
Threads took off after its initial launch in June, reeling in more than one million active users in the first week, but the app quickly lost momentum, dropping its daily active users by more than 80% in early August. In the Q2 earnings call, Zuckerberg told investors more people than he expected were coming back to Threads each day, but added they were “focused on retention and improving the basics” before trying to boost the number of users coming to Threads.
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