The Timing of Threads launch appears advantageous to Meta
Meta Platforms’ Instagram has introduced Threads, an app designed to compete directly with Twitter, posing a significant challenge to Elon Musk’s struggling social media platform. It allows users to post text and links, respond to or repost messages from others, and transfer their follower lists and account names from Instagram. Within its first seven hours, the app attracted over 10 million sign-ups, although it will not be available in Ireland and the EU due to privacy concerns. Despite its initial success, Its user base is still far smaller than Twitter’s 300 million users.
Mark Zuckerberg, expressed his belief that there should be a public conversations app with over a billion users, criticizing Twitter’s inability to achieve this. Influential users on Instagram have been requesting a text-based app as an alternative to existing platforms. Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta, have a history of emulating features from competitors. This launch marks the first time Meta is directly releasing a Twitter-like application.
The timing of this launch appears advantageous for Meta, as Twitter has faced financial struggles since Musk’s acquisition. Musk highlighted a 50% decline in advertising revenue and hired a new CEO in an effort to improve relationships with brands. Twitter has also imposed limitations on the number of daily tweets users can view, which Musk deemed a temporary measure to combat data scraping and bots.
Previous challengers to Twitter, such as BlueSky and Mastodon, have not developed networks substantial enough to match the reach and impact of Twitter posts. Many alternative networks are still in the process of establishing systems to manage harmful content. Its benefits from Instagram’s existing infrastructure and implements the same content rules and safety controls. Verified public figures on Insta can retain their blue badges on this account. Unlike Twitter, which made verification a paid-only feature, This provides an experience focused on user control and safety from the start.
Additionally, Its built on the Activity Pub social-networking protocol, enabling users to interact with a broader community. It is first app to be interoperable with competing products, although a timeline for this update has not been specified. It initially launches without ads, prioritizing the promotion of the product itself.
10 million people joined new app
After its launch, an app directly linked to gram, garnered 10 million sign-ups within the first seven hours, as confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg on his Threads account. The app is being rolled out in over 100 countries for iOS and Android. Some users have dubbed the “Twitter killer,” posing a direct threat to Elon Musk’s struggling platform. Zuckerberg presented this platform as a more friendly and wholesome alternative to Twitter, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a positive environment for its success.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has faced concerns regarding the moderation of its platforms but has made efforts to tighten policies and invest in increased moderation. In contrast, Musk has relaxed Twitter’s approach to moderation, leading to advertisers fleeing and a decline in annual revenues by 50%. Musk’s recent temporary limits on the number of posts users can view further frustrated Twitter users, which prompted some to seek alternative platforms.
Despite the emergence of nascent challengers like Truth Social, Bluesky, and Mastodon, they have failed to establish large enough communities to compete with mainstream platforms. History of cloning features from rival platforms, such as Stories and Reels, but It stands out due to its integration with Insta, enabling users to instantly have a network by transferring their existing usernames and followers.
It has launched with an algorithmic timeline, prioritizing posts with more engagement and occasionally displaying content from non-followed accounts. Initially, the app has few or no paid ads, although several brands have joined the platform. It has chosen not to launch the app in the EU initially due to regulatory uncertainties, despite it being the second-largest market by revenue.
