Threads: The New Social Media App That Could Overtake Twitter

Meet Twitter, …. Sorry Threads rather.

Threads, a social media application launched on 5th July 2023 to rival Twitter. The app is owned by Meta Platforms Inc well known for being Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp parent company. 

In recent months, we’ve seen a lot of big tech companies pick fights: Microsoft vs Google, Amazon vs Google, Twitter vs Facebook, and Apple vs Facebook to the extent of physical fights against the CEOs with a cage fight between Elon Musk & Zuck the Boss planned - they are dead serious.

Threads, accessible as a native app on App Store and Google Play is a new way for influencers to share more than photos with an Instagram & Twitter feel. The UI is identical to Twitter threads which is a way to share a threaded/continued story.

A Twitter thread comprises a sequence of interconnected tweets originating from a single user. By utilizing a thread, individuals can furnish supplementary context, offer updates, or expand upon a specific point by linking multiple tweets in succession. This is the same idea but with an Instagram touch because people love Instagram.

Why Is Thread a Rival?

Twitter, recently acquired by Elon Musk has seen many changes in the last months some of them are: 

• 72% layoffs and resignations bring its headcount from 7,500 to 1300.
• Open-sourcing their code on Github to show transparency
• And of course, losing money, the company is now worth $15 Billion according to the Wall Street Journal

Find more statistics at Statista

Amongst others. While Twitter managed to be in the headlines, for controversy Elon -Twitter & Tesla CEO in a tweet said the app has roughly 259 million daily active users and a total of 396.5 million users globally. With that little background, you now know a little bit about Twitter.

Threads on the other hand is fairly new but has an amazing future. Recent updates show that the App has over 10 million signups with the first user as Mark Zuckerberg in 5 days at the time of writing this article. 

How was it easy for Threads to gain users?

Super easy:

• Many influencers on Instagram with a massive following are simply advertising Threads for free with the intention to build a career and a massive following on the new app.
• The app integrates directly with Instagram making it easy for them to transfer their following from Insta to Threads.
• New Influencers are trying their best to build careers and take the mantle there.
• The features are Twitter-like but focused on the user rather than the audience.
• Instagram users with a massive following simply suck over at Twitter having little impact Mark Zuckerberg too has a little over a thousand Twitter followers.
• Lastly, Threads reserves your Instagram username for you till you are ready therefore you have no excuse.

Threads Features

1. Threading a conversation just like Twitter.
2. A feed of accounts you follow
3. You can share links in comments and as a stand-alone post
4. Repost or quote an existing post
5. Preview of the link destination
6. Share a post button, like, comment
7. Another feature is muting, hiding posts from specific accounts

Why Threads could overtake Twitter

Today, I created my Threads account, which is quite easy turns out I was the 95th million user. On clicking “Sign-in with Instagram” I had some pending requests that I simply approved and got some followers. 

1. On Threads, you can censor any comment by hiding it from everyone thus protecting a business or personal identity which is really important.
2. Your verified profile is imported from Instagram
3. No rate limit on the number of posts per day
4. No monetization till they hit 1 Billion users
5. More features coming soon.

Twitter vs Threads

As we are in this Twitter vs Threads thread, Twitter has threatened to take legal action on Meta Platforms. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next one.