[xmprt]

With a social network, steady and sustainable is usually not an option. If they don't have a strong launch when they remove the restrictions they'll fade into irrelevance within a few weeks. Threads had a surprisingly strong launch and it still has an uphill battle to climb if it wants to challenge Twitter and that's in spite of all the ways Twitter is attempting to self-sabotage.

[Retr0id]

Explosive growth is not a requirement. Take a look at reddit's long-term trajectory, for example. It's remarkably linear (although I have a feeling it's not going to continue for much longer)

[olah_1]

Reddit’s value is the historical content. Old content on a feed-based app is literal garbage, however.

[Hamuko]

Isn't Threads kinda proving that explosive growth isn't a requirement to a successful social network?

[threeseed]

Threads is backed by Meta so can survive for decades running at a loss.

Not sure if the same applies to BlueSky, X, TruthSocial etc.

Social networks typically demand large user bases because it goes hand in hand with advertising.