A Late-Night Digital Ritual
At two in the morning, a university student in Taipei lies on her dormitory bed and habitually opens her phone. Not Instagram, not TikTok, but Threads, or as she and her friends call it, “Cui.” She casually posts: “I can’t finish my final report, but my roommate’s snoring is even more unbearable.” Within three minutes, more than a dozen strangers have replied: some offering comfort, some sharing similar experiences, and some simply joining the commotion.
This seemingly ordinary late-night scene is being repeated across Taiwan. While users elsewhere in the world have gradually cooled toward Threads, Taiwan has unexpectedly become one of the platform’s most fervent adopters.
Taiwan’s Counterintuitive Miracle
The country that loves Threads most in the world is not the United States. It is Taiwan.
The conclusion is surprising. Meta launched Threads in July 2023 as a direct competitor to Twitter, now X. In the United States, it saw explosive growth followed by rapid cooling; in Europe, its launch was even delayed because of regulatory issues. In Taiwan, however, Threads has followed a sharply different trajectory.
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 3.5 million users: Taiwan’s estimated user base, making it the world’s second-largest market, behind only the United States
- Global champion in usage time: Taiwanese users rank first in the world for average time spent
- 300 million global monthly active users: By the end of 2024, Threads had surpassed 300 million monthly active users worldwide
- Fastest app ever to reach 150 million downloads: According to data.ai Intelligence, Threads became the fastest app to hit this milestone
Even more strikingly, Taiwanese netizens created a dedicated nickname for the platform: “Cui” (脆, a homophone based on the pronunciation of Threads). This locally familiar term marks the platform’s full localization.
Deconstructing “Cui” Culture: Why Did Taiwanese Users Fall in Love with Threads?
1. Escaping Fatigue from “Polished Packaging”
For Taiwan’s Gen Z, Instagram has become a “performance stage”: every photo must be perfect, and every Story must be meaningful. Facebook, meanwhile, has been taken over by elders and workplace ties, making young people reluctant to speak freely.
Threads fills this gap precisely: a text-first, low-threshold posting mechanism satisfies the basic need for “murmuring,” or casual stream-of-consciousness posting. There is no layout anxiety, no hashtag pressure, and casual everyday complaints often prove more likely to resonate.
Curator’s Note #1:
“IG vs Real Life” comparison material appears widely on Threads, reflecting young people’s reassessment of social media “filter culture.” They long for a space where they can show a real and imperfect self.
2. The Algorithm’s “Accidental Democratization”
Threads’ For You feed strongly favors popular content from people users do not follow, producing an unexpected democratizing effect in Taiwan:
- Breaking echo chambers: Users often encounter views sharply different from their own
- Niche breakout: Discussions once confined to specific PTT boards or smaller Dcard communities can now be pushed into public visibility
- Ordinary users going viral: A sincere post by an ordinary user may attract more attention than a carefully planned post by a KOL
But this also brings side effects: an intensification of pile-on culture. Posts with high engagement, such as replies and reposts, are amplified by the algorithm, making emotionally charged speech more likely to erupt.
3. The Psychological Safety of “Relative Anonymity”
Although Threads is tied to Instagram accounts, it provides a “semi-transparent” social experience compared with Facebook’s real-name environment. Users have real identities, but they are not constrained by workplace and family relationships in the same way they are on Facebook.
This design has found an ideal position in Taiwan’s online culture: more accountable than PTT’s complete anonymity, and freer in expression than Facebook’s real-name system.
Reshaping Digital Political Communication in Taiwan
The “Coming Down to Earth” Revolution Among Politicians
After Taiwan’s 2024 presidential and legislative elections, Taiwanese politicians realized that traditional media and Facebook could no longer reach young voters, and many shifted to “Cui.” But this was not simply a transfer from one platform to another. It was a fundamental change in communication style.
Unlike serious policy statements on Facebook, politicians on Threads adopt:
- An approachable tone: Discussing policy in everyday conversational language
- Humor and self-mockery: Admitting mistakes and making jokes at their own expense
- Immediate responses: Replying directly to public comments instead of communicating through staff
- Participation in memes: Actively joining discussions around internet memes
This “coming down to earth” mode of interaction breaks down the image, inherited from the authoritarian era, of politicians standing high above the public. It has made Threads Taiwan’s most active emerging public square for political communication and civic discussion.
The Decentralization of Political Discussion
In the past, political discussion in Taiwan was concentrated on specific PTT boards, such as Gossiping, with clear demographic characteristics and ideological tendencies. Threads’ algorithm decentralizes political discussion:
- Views from different positions are more likely to encounter one another
- Political news is no longer interpreted exclusively by specific media outlets or KOLs
- Ordinary citizens’ political views gain more opportunities for exposure
Curator’s Note #2:
This decentralization also brings risks: without professional media gatekeeping, disinformation and extreme speech can spread more easily. Taiwan FactCheck Center’s 2024 report shows that political rumors on Threads spread 40% faster than on Facebook.
The “Cui” Wave Challenging Existing Forum Ecosystems
vs. Dcard: From Campus to the Whole Public
Dcard was once Taiwan’s largest anonymous discussion platform for university students, but Threads offers a more immediate and more open alternative.
Dcard’s limitations:
- Users must register to view full content
- Its school-centered board system is relatively closed
- Its anonymity can easily become a channel for emotional venting
Threads’ advantages:
- Open browsing lowers the threshold for participation
- Cross-generational exchange is not limited to students
- Ties to IG accounts provide a moderate degree of accountability
The result is that large volumes of casual chat and current-affairs discussion traffic have shifted from Dcard to Threads.
vs. PTT: A Digital Witness to Generational Turnover
PTT has stopped accepting new user registrations for years, causing its user base to age. Although younger generations still “go on PTT to read the mood,” they rarely participate actively in discussions. Threads fills this gap.
The changing response pattern to news events:
- Before: News breaks → people go to PTT to read villagers’ discussions → public opinion forms
- Now: News breaks → people go to Cui to read real-time reactions → join the discussion → influence public opinion
This shift is not merely a platform migration. It is a fundamental change in the mechanism by which online public opinion forms in Taiwan.
vs. Twitter/X: The Victory of Localization
The many changes after Elon Musk acquired Twitter reduced Taiwanese users’ trust in the platform. Threads arrived at precisely this moment as an alternative better suited to Taiwan’s usage habits:
- Better Chinese-language support: The algorithm understands Traditional Chinese content more effectively
- Optimization for Taiwan’s time zone: Peak periods align with Taiwanese users’ daily schedules
- Friendliness toward local memes: Support for Taiwanese internet slang and cultural in-jokes
A New Battleground for Brands and KOLs
The “Authenticity” Turn in Brand Marketing
Traditional social media marketing emphasizes polished visuals and KOL endorsements. On Threads, however, being grounded and locally relatable is more effective than appearing elevated and grand.
Successful cases:
IKEA Taiwan: “All the things in life you can’t get through, just shout IKEA,” a Taiwanese-language homophonic joke
- Result: 830,000 views and 41,000 likes
- Key to success: Localized humor + brand personification
Hachiyo Tea: A Kaohsiung beverage brand whose Threads following is three times larger than its Instagram following
- Strategy: Daily interaction, replying to comments, and participating in topical discussions
- Outcome: More than 30,000 followers, with growth far outpacing other platforms
The Rise of KOC, or Key Opinion Consumer
Threads’ algorithm favors sharing based on “real user experiences,” allowing ordinary consumers’ voices to be heard more easily than those of traditional KOLs:
- A mother’s account of parenting products is more persuasive than a celebrity endorsement
- A student’s restaurant review is more trusted by peers than a food blogger’s post
- An ordinary person’s outfit sharing resonates more than a fashion KOL’s post
This trend is changing the structure of Taiwan’s influencer economy.
Curator’s Note #3:
“Advertising fatigue” is reshaping social media marketing. According to a 2024 Taiwan digital marketing survey, 73% of Gen Z respondents said they trust recommendations from “real users” more than traditional KOL sponsored content.
Threads’ Localization Phenomenon in Taiwan
A Birthplace for Memes and Catchphrases
Threads has become an important source of Taiwanese internet memes and catchphrases:
Popular memes:
- “Cui friends”: A self-description used by Threads users, creating a sense of community identity
- “Cui made me urgent”: Used to describe seeing anger-inducing content on Threads
- “Cui power is great”: Used to praise high-quality Threads content
Distinctive Usage Cultures
“Serial-thread fun”: Users post several short entries in succession under the same topic, forming a “thread”
“Cui-board villagers”: Veteran netizens who migrated from PTT, bringing forum culture with them
“Nonsense post awards”: A daily competition for the most popular funny or absurd content
These localization phenomena show that Threads is not only a social platform. It has become one of the best entry points for observing Taiwanese catchphrases, social emotions, and youth subcultures.
The Social Meaning Behind the Data
Analysis of Usage Behavior
According to multiple surveys:
User profile:
- Gen Z as the main group: Users aged 18-25 account for about 60%
- Concentration among the highly educated: Users with university education or above account for 70%
- Urban distribution: Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung account for 65% of all users
Usage periods:
- Late-night peak: 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
- Commuting hours: 8-9 a.m. and 6-7 p.m.
- Weekend surge: Holiday usage time is 40% higher than on weekdays
Content preferences:
- Emotional expression: 35% of total posts
- Current-affairs discussion: 25%
- Life sharing: 20%
- Memes and humor: 15%
- Other: 5%
Deeper Impacts on Taiwanese Society
1. Redefining “public discussion”
Threads lowers the threshold for participating in public-issue discussions and allows more diverse voices to be heard. But it also raises a challenge: how can discussion quality be maintained in fragmented, emotional short-form text?
2. Intensifying the digital divide between generations
Participation on Threads is significantly lower among users over 40, which may widen gaps in information reception between generations.
3. A new vehicle for political polarization
Although algorithmic recommendation mechanisms can break echo chambers, controversial content with high engagement is more easily amplified, potentially deepening political confrontation.
Challenges and Hidden Concerns
A Slide in Content Quality
As user numbers grow, Threads faces challenges common to all social platforms:
Declining information quality:
- Accelerated spread of disinformation
- Proliferation of emotionally inflammatory content
- Professional discussions being drowned out by noise
Commercialization pressure:
- In late 2024, Meta began testing advertising functions on Threads
- Commercialization may affect algorithmic logic
- The need to balance user experience with profit demands
Privacy and Data Governance
As a member of the Meta family, Threads inherits Facebook and Instagram’s privacy controversies:
- Scope of data collection: Deep integration with IG accounts and cross-use of data
- Algorithmic transparency: Black-box operations lack public explanation
- Content moderation standards: Chinese-language content moderation mechanisms are still being improved
Risks of Platform Dependence
Taiwan’s heavy dependence on a single platform may bring systemic risks:
- Impact of service interruptions: Platform failures may affect the dissemination of important information
- Shock from policy changes: Adjustments to Meta policy may suddenly change the usage environment
- Data sovereignty issues: Important data from social discussions is held by a U.S. corporation
Outlook: The Future of Taiwan’s “Cui” Culture
Short-Term Development, 2026-2027
Functional maturation:
- Formal launch of the advertising system, affecting the content ecosystem
- Integration of features such as livestreaming and shopping
- Continued optimization of Chinese-language content understanding
Ecosystem maturation:
- Establishment of economic models for content creators
- Formal entry by government and public institutions
- Greater integration by news media
Medium-Term Evolution, 2027-2030
Intensifying platform competition:
- TikTok and YouTube launch text-based social functions
- Local platforms, such as a new version of PTT, return to competition
- User attention becomes further fragmented
Changes in the regulatory environment:
- Implementation of new regulations such as the Digital Intermediary Services Act
- Strengthening of mechanisms to prevent disinformation
- Establishment of cross-platform data governance standards
Long-Term Impact, 2030+
Structural social change:
- A new generation of “Cui natives” comes of age, influencing the direction of Taiwan’s online culture
- Boundaries between traditional media and new media blur further
- Political communication undergoes a thorough digital transformation
Potential risks and opportunities:
- Web3 and decentralized social platforms may disrupt the existing landscape
- Questions over the boundary between AI-generated content and real-user discussion
- Successful experience in localizing a transnational platform may be replicated in other regions
Conclusion: From Phenomenon to Cultural Sedimentation
Threads’ success in Taiwan reflects the convergence of several deeper desires:
- A low-pressure social environment: Escaping the pressures of overpackaged social media
- Highly participatory public discussion: Recovering the internet’s original purpose as a public sphere
- A space for authentic expression: Preserving human warmth in the digital world
Most importantly, however, “Cui” is no longer merely a social platform. It has become an important window for understanding contemporary Taiwanese youth culture, political communication, and social change.
When we scroll through Threads late at night and watch strangers share their most authentic troubles and joys, perhaps we are witnessing an important turning point in the history of Taiwan’s digital society: a return from “displaying the self” to “expressing the self,” and from “pursuing perfection” to “embracing authenticity.”
Yet the challenges are equally clear: in fragmented and emotional short-form text, how can the quality of public discussion be maintained? Could the polarization and confrontation brought by algorithms turn “Cui” from a public square into a battlefield?
There are no standard answers to these questions. But their answers will determine the next chapter of Taiwan’s digital democracy.
Further Exploration
Related Topics
Research Resources
- Taiwan FactCheck Center — Taiwan FactCheck Center
- Ministry of Digital Affairs Digital Governance Policy — Government policies related to digital governance
- Taiwan Network Information Center, TWNIC — Surveys on internet usage behavior in Taiwan
References
- Threads’ global monthly active users exceed 300 million, becoming Taiwan’s most popular app in 2024 - Business Yee
- Threads turns one year old: monthly active users exceed 175 million - Business Next
- Taiwan has the world’s second-largest number of Threads users and ranks first globally in usage time: why has Gen Z moved to “Cui”? - FoodNext
- Gen Z loves “Threads”: Taiwan becomes the world’s second-largest market - CommonWealth Magazine
- Is Threads marketing overturning the rules of traffic? Latest cases and strategies for the AI era - AsiaKOL
- From PTT and Dcard to Threads: how are we “designed” on social platforms? - The News Lens
- Threads becomes Taiwanese young people’s new favorite: analyzing the rise of “Cui” - Sonar Digital Marketing
- Threads marketing: new trends in Taiwanese corporate social media strategy - i-Connect
- 2025 Threads marketing case studies - Tobie Huang
- Did Threads come back to life because of “nonsense posts”? This Cui wave is one to follow - Partipost
- Data.ai Intelligence: report on Threads reaching 150 million downloads - App Market Intelligence
- Taiwan FactCheck Center 2024 Annual Report - Taiwan FactCheck Center
This article was researched and written in depth by Editorial Team. Last updated: 2026-03-24
Primary sources: Meta Platforms, Business Next, CommonWealth Magazine, AsiaKOL, Taiwan FactCheck Center