In order to compete with Twitter, Meta will launch Threads on July 6. It comes right after Twitter effectively transformed itself into the antithesis of doomscrolling, so the timing is perfect.
People are scrambling to find a new text-based platform on which to air their woes and wit in response to Twitter's new rate limits, which prevent free, unverified users from viewing more than 800 tweets per day.
There is already a cool group of applications competing to replace Twitter. Mastodon, the invite-only Bluesky, and the Truth Social of former President Donald Trump have all been hailed as new safe spaces for Twitter users who are upset about something, whether it be censorship worries or Elon Musk turning blue checks into a paid service.
But none of these have demonstrated the explosive growth required to exterminate the blue bird. In comparison to Twitter's 237.8 million daily active users in 2022, Mastodon has between 1.3 and 2.5 million active users. By essentially just absorbing the opposing sides of a free speech schism, TruthSocial and Bluesky run the risk of creating right- and left-wing echo chambers.
In the meantime, Mark Zuckerberg and his team have created a system that is specifically designed for a mass Twitter exodus that will lead people straight to Threads instead of being driven by complaints this time.
Since Instagram and Threads are supposed to be directly connected, most users won't even need to create new usernames to start posting. Threads is probably a free service. The registration process should only require a few phone taps, given Meta's track record.
According to screenshots of the app's interface, Threads will begin recommending accounts to follow based on your Instagram activity, in contrast to its competitors who typically throw you into a sea of posts from commentators you don't know and force you to start building a social network from scratch.
The majority of users of Instagram, or an estimated two billion monthly active users in 2021, are likely Threads' biggest advantage.
Since comparing visual and text-based social media isn't exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, it is still unclear whether Meta will be able to translate Instagram's popularity into astronomical success on Threads.
But if Meta has anything to offer, it is sheer scale. A minimum of 3.02 billion people per day used a Meta-owned app in the first few months of 2023, whether it was WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram.
The huge social media company has had success with app clones as well. According to a recent Morgan Stanley study of 2,000 people, viewers of Instagram and Facebook Reels, which are essentially Meta's copy of TikTok, have increased over the past year. According to the study, at least 74% of those who used Instagram in April used Reels.
And just three years after its launch, Instagram Stories, a feature similar to SnapChat, had at least 500 million daily users in 2019.
In the meantime, Meta has been making hints that it is targeting Twitter and Musk during their chaotic redesign. Chris Cox, chief product officer at Meta, described Threads as a response to creators and celebrities who requested a "sanely run" platform.
On Sunday, Musk responded to Meta by making a likely allusion to Zuckerberg. Thank goodness, he wrote, "they're so sanely run."
People are scrambling to find a new text-based platform on which to air their woes and wit in response to Twitter's new rate limits, which prevent free, unverified users from viewing more than 800 tweets per day.
There is already a cool group of applications competing to replace Twitter. Mastodon, the invite-only Bluesky, and the Truth Social of former President Donald Trump have all been hailed as new safe spaces for Twitter users who are upset about something, whether it be censorship worries or Elon Musk turning blue checks into a paid service.
But none of these have demonstrated the explosive growth required to exterminate the blue bird. In comparison to Twitter's 237.8 million daily active users in 2022, Mastodon has between 1.3 and 2.5 million active users. By essentially just absorbing the opposing sides of a free speech schism, TruthSocial and Bluesky run the risk of creating right- and left-wing echo chambers.
In the meantime, Mark Zuckerberg and his team have created a system that is specifically designed for a mass Twitter exodus that will lead people straight to Threads instead of being driven by complaints this time.
Since Instagram and Threads are supposed to be directly connected, most users won't even need to create new usernames to start posting. Threads is probably a free service. The registration process should only require a few phone taps, given Meta's track record.
According to screenshots of the app's interface, Threads will begin recommending accounts to follow based on your Instagram activity, in contrast to its competitors who typically throw you into a sea of posts from commentators you don't know and force you to start building a social network from scratch.
The majority of users of Instagram, or an estimated two billion monthly active users in 2021, are likely Threads' biggest advantage.
Since comparing visual and text-based social media isn't exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, it is still unclear whether Meta will be able to translate Instagram's popularity into astronomical success on Threads.
But if Meta has anything to offer, it is sheer scale. A minimum of 3.02 billion people per day used a Meta-owned app in the first few months of 2023, whether it was WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram.
The huge social media company has had success with app clones as well. According to a recent Morgan Stanley study of 2,000 people, viewers of Instagram and Facebook Reels, which are essentially Meta's copy of TikTok, have increased over the past year. According to the study, at least 74% of those who used Instagram in April used Reels.
And just three years after its launch, Instagram Stories, a feature similar to SnapChat, had at least 500 million daily users in 2019.
In the meantime, Meta has been making hints that it is targeting Twitter and Musk during their chaotic redesign. Chris Cox, chief product officer at Meta, described Threads as a response to creators and celebrities who requested a "sanely run" platform.
On Sunday, Musk responded to Meta by making a likely allusion to Zuckerberg. Thank goodness, he wrote, "they're so sanely run."
