The Unthinkable has happened. Twitter is no longer monolith; it has a new and exciting rival called Thread which is a Threat to them. As we all know, we have plenty of social media before to replace Twitter. (Here is a non-exhaustive list of the attempts to replace Twitter: Mastodon, Bluesky, Post.News, Cohost, Artifact, Hive, and Substack Notes) all of which have been marketed as alternatives to a Musk-led Twitter, but there is no match with Twitter.
Twitter Threat is Meta Thread – Full Explained
Thread has taken the world by storm recently, and the whole world is discussing it. To give a background, Thread is run by Mark Zuckerberg Meta, whose logo looks like a sort of cross between Instagram and Thread or maybe looks like a Jalebi Indian Sweet.
You still need an Instagram login, even if it’s a standalone app. They could have increased the signups of Instagram if a person wanted to use a Twitter clone app.
How is the App Doing?
On the day of its launch, it has 10 million subscribers, and on Friday, it has 70 Million users within 24 hours. Even Mark is heavily involved in the first few hours of its launch. No app in the history of mankind has achieved these numbers.
Comparing with Twitter
Twitter has more than 400 million active users, and it’s 16 years old, whereas Instagram has 2 billion users, and to use Thread, you need an Instagram login. Even if you say 50% of users use Thread, they will have 1 billion users within the next few months.
You can also follow us on Instagram – cash_nut
(Don’t forget to follow us on Insta also and say hi)
Why Launched Now?
Meta said they want to launch an app for sharing content with text, as Instagram doesn’t have the capability. But you can share as a carousel post, but it still limits the user experience. But with Thread, users can have a real-time public conversation like Twitter.
Still, there are some differences in features
- Twitter supports 10,000 characters, and Threads only 500 characters
- Twitter Blue now support 2 hours long movie whereas Thread only support short 5 minutes videos
The Perfect Timing
Twitter is going through callous times. The lawsuits and fines worldwide, and people are now having problems with Elon Musk, and only some are happy with its policy. In the first week of July, he decided to limit the number of Tweets you can see. Unverified accounts only see 600 posts daily, and new accounts just 300 tweets daily. The doom scroll is over. Musk is also deciding to put a paywall to see the Tweet, which limits the user experience, and wants to recover money for the $44 billion acquisition as soon as possible. Musk wants to make Twitter a paid service.
Musk also has Political issues. He brought back all the banned Twitter accounts Like Donald Trump and Jorden Peterson. Those on the left side of the political spectrum are unhappy with Musk and say Twitter is a Toxic place like their Ex-Wife.
The big-Boss (Zuck) of Instagram is watching all this. He said that Twitter volatility had opened a window for them, and their executives are not shying away from the comparisons between Thread and Twitter.
Zuck Plunging Fortunes
Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune is going down every year. In 2021 he had a net worth of $140 billion, and in 2023 his net worth is $67 billion. His Metaverse strategy has poorly backfired, and now he aligned his focus on building social media rather than making us buy a $1000 Oculus VR headset.
Should Elon Musk be Worried?
Based on the current scenario, the answer is a definite yes! As we already mentioned that he paid $44 billion to buy Twitter. Back then, it has a monopoly on public conversations, but it doesn’t anymore. And the Idea of a linking thread is the best strategy of Zuck. Also, Zuck doesn’t have to hunt for users as a big pool of users is already available to them, which is $2 billion monthly active users. Even many social media analysts say it will cross Twitter in the blink of an eye. As 1 in 10 Instagram users, goona tried Thread. Then Thread overtook Twitter in the blink of an eye.
This digital battle is equally engaging and entertaining as they both have a personal and professional rivalry. Musk doesn’t say much, but one Twitter user says Zuck copy-paste it, and Musk just replies with a smiling Emoji.
A few days back – Twitter accused Meta of poaching former employees to create Threads. It is threatening to sue Meta to enforce its intellectual property rights. Twitter’s lawyers allege that Meta hired and assigned former Twitter employees to develop Threads with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property to accelerate development. A Meta spokesperson said that Twitter’s accusations are baseless as no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee.
Elon should be worried as Twitter’s future doesn’t look well, as its advertising revenue is also going down, and he even hired an Ex-NBCUniversal advertising executive called Linda Yaccarin to bring back the Twitter Glory Days.
Should we, as the user, be worried?
Since the last decade, we have already got the answer if you watch the Social Delimna of Netflix Documentary, and many have tried to delete their Facebook account. One study said that 32% of the world population is on Instagram, and almost every world leader is on Instagram, like Narendra Modi, Biden, and Rishi Sunak.
Social media companies know more about us than our mothers. While some of the information they gather is harmless, like food recommendations or music preferences, Facebook can also determine where we stand on issues like abortion and climate change, as well as our political beliefs and radical ideas. This gives these private companies an enormous amount of power. For example, if Elon Musk wants to sell more Teslas, he could flood Twitter with content about climate change, while Zuckerberg could do the same with systemic racism on Facebook. These companies have been known to manipulate users before, as seen in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where millions of Facebook users had their data collected and used for political advertising.
Twitter has been accused of allowing hate speech, but we shouldn’t get too caught up in scandals involving billionaires and cage fights. These platforms are primarily interested in collecting and profiting from our data. With their immense power, they have become even more addictive, and we are now faced with even more significant challenges presented by social media. Shortly, the integration of AI will further complicate matters as it becomes increasingly difficult to discern what is genuine and what has been manipulated.
What should be done?
Anything you do is pointless. But you can follow the cash nut and engage with us. Just joking 😅. The better option is to ask what the government is doing, and the government knows how powerful they have become and how dangerous they will be, but their vested interests keep them from taking action.
Some Leaders like Elon Musk for their free speech absolutism, and others like Zuckerberg are, taking on Elon Musk, so there is no saying how things will involve in the next few months.
Conclusion
While Threads looks a lot like Twitter on many levels, essential differences may lead it to become something more significant than Twitter ever was. Owning social media is a fool’s errand. The most important new social networks in recent years have been notable for not being social networks. Apps like TikTok showed that abundant easily-discoverable content can be a powerful force.
People need a stable platform to share their latest thoughts and engage with followers. However, finding a suitable alternative to Twitter has been a challenging task. Mastodon is complex and unwieldy, Bluesky is restrictive with invite codes, and other options need more liveliness than Twitter due to their niche user base. Furthermore, many people want to avoid signing up for new apps. However, Threads lacks many important features and needs to provide a convincing reason for users to switch from Twitter or adopt a new social media platform with Threads.
The most prominent users on Threads are those who use Instagram as their primary source of income. Unfortunately, these accounts are uninteresting, safe for brands, or simply regurgitating old viral trends. Despite Elon Musk’s attempts to ruin Twitter, Threads has only reinforced Twitter’s superiority. Musk has complained about Zuckerberg hiring former Twitter employees, claiming it was copying, but users aren’t on either platform to support their owners. People want a fun place to post, and they’ll gravitate towards the better option: Threads, Twitter, or something else. At this point, does it even matter? Let us know your opinion on our Thread Page.