Meta launched a new effort to target users in Japan — a core X audience — as it looks to make Threads the dominant micro-content platform and surpass X as the main feed for real-time engagement.
On Monday, Meta announced a new Japan-specific Threads profile, which will share region-specific notes for Japanese users.
Meta said in Japanese that it was launching its official Threads account for Japan, and that the company would be sharing information about Threads, Instagram and Meta AI, as well as tips that might be useful to know. In addition, the company said it would use the Meta Japan Threads account to share news on Meta Quest and showcase a wide range of Meta’s initiatives.
The focus on Meta Quest seems a little strange, considering Meta is seemingly reducing its focus on VR in other ways. But the main point of note is that Meta is making a bigger push to make Threads a more significant part of Japan’s information eco-sphere, a market that has become one of the key pillars for X’s stabilization and growth.
Indeed, late last month, Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, reiterated X’s popularity in Japan, noting that: “Japan has more daily active users and more time spent on X than any other country in the world.”
Bier also said that more than two-thirds of Japan’s population is active in the app, while X in Japan “has one of the highest penetration rates of any social network in history.”
Data points like this have clearly piqued the interest of Meta, which, just days after Bier’s announcement, announced its new Threads Japan profile, which will now form the next weapon in Threads’ attack on X.
Meta has made no secret about its effort to supplant X. Ahead of Threads’ launch in 2023, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the aim of the project was to create a “more positive” version of what Twitter had become, and what X has continued to morph into, under Elon Musk.
Zuckerberg’s vision was to create a billion-user app based on the concept of Twitter, essentially righting the wrongs of past Twitter management and showing that Meta can do it better.
And thus far at least, it does seem to be on the right track. Threads reached 100 million sign-ups faster than any other app in history, which could be partly attributed to its linkage to Instagram, as well as streamlined profile creation via Instagram account info. The app has since expanded to 400 million active users. With X reportedly sitting on 600 million monthly actives, the gap between the two platforms is closing, and Threads could eventually surpass X as the leader in this specific social media niche.
Taking aim at Japan’s social media market is another step in this direction, as Meta looks for more ways to win the race.
