With the resignation of X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced on Wednesday, the platform formerly known as Twitter is heading into a new phase marked by growing uncertainty. Owned by Elon Musk, X has seen its daily active users decline by approximately 10% year-over-year in Q2 2025, according to new data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
Although X still holds a significant lead—boasting a user base 65% larger than Meta’s Threads and nearly ten times the size of Bluesky—its long-term dominance is under pressure. Threads, in particular, is rapidly closing the gap, especially on mobile, signaling a shift in the competitive dynamics of the social media landscape.
Data from Similarweb shows that in June 2025, Threads’ mobile app reached 115.1 million daily active users, a 127.8% increase from a year earlier. In comparison, X reported 132 million daily actives, but with 15.2% negative growth year-over-year.
Overall, X still holds an edge thanks to its strong web traffic.
Despite rising competition from Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and other emerging platforms, X users remain highly engaged. According to Sensor Tower, the average user spent 31 minutes per day on X last quarter—nearly four times more than Threads’ 8 minutes per day. Nearly 48% of X’s monthly app users interact with the platform daily, compared to 33% for Threads.
Still, Threads’ rapid growth can’t be ignored. Over the past year, Threads’ global daily active users have climbed 160%, driven by new features and cross-promotion across Meta’s family of apps like Instagram and Facebook.
Threads has also prioritized building its advertising ecosystem. In April, Meta opened Threads ads to global advertisers, and by May, began testing video ads. As part of Meta’s broader ad business, Threads benefits from familiar tools and nearly two decades of ad expertise.
Under Yaccarino’s leadership, X’s ad revenue had begun to recover—though not without volatility. In 2025 so far, advertisers in media and entertainment, shopping, and gaming made up 25%, 22%, and 7% of total U.S. ad spend on X, respectively, up from 2022 levels.
Top advertisers last year included Samsung, Temu, State Farm, and the NFL. This year, brands like Apple, Google, Verizon, and Dell have joined the list.
New data from Guideline shows U.S. ad spending on X rose 62% year-over-year in the first half of 2025.
While advertising isn’t a zero-sum game, Meta and Google continue to dominate the market. For Meta, the challenge was less about monetization and more about proving it could launch an app that resonated with consumers. Until Threads, most of its homegrown social products—from Lasso to IGTV—failed to gain traction.
Threads changed that by tapping into Instagram’s user base and using Facebook and Instagram as growth engines.
According to Meta’s latest earnings, Threads now boasts 350 million monthly active users. X, as a private company, doesn’t disclose metrics publicly, but Musk has previously claimed X has 600 million monthly active users.
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