Threads: A Threat or a Promise to The Twitter Blue Bird’s Future

• 1 Twitter serves as a social platform to over 300 Million users.
• 2 Threads can prove promising to Twitter’s future

The chips are down for Twitter it appears, and Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make the most of it. On July 5, 2023 when users were simply following their daily scrolling routine on social media apps, Meta Platforms CEO delivered a new member to the company’s family of apps, Threads, triggering a Twitter vs Threads debate across the Internet.

Twitter Vs Threads Debate Heating Up On Social Media 

Threads is available for Android and iPhone geeks and has already turned the tables within a few days of its inception. The new text-based conversation app turned 10 Million users in the initial seven hours of launch. The number ten-folded within a week. Now, Threads sits amid a crowd of over 100 Million social media ninjas.

Today, Twitter serves as a social platform to over 300 Million users, ten percent of which it managed to acquire in four years. Threads, being an Instagram app, already had an exposure to its 1 Billion monthly active users. The company has not enabled its web interface yet which could be a strategy to attract more mobile users globally. Over 5 Billion people access social media applications through mobile devices.

Another aspect to give a thought is it cannot exist without the Instagram app. A user is required to delete his/her Insta account to delete Threads account. Although sharing a similar interface with Elon Musk’s Twitter, the app still lacks a few technical facets. There’s no keyword searches or region-centric trends for users.

Threads is a Big No-No In Several Aspects

Twitter is a go-to platform for journalists. Its TweetDeck is a savior for the ones looking to break news. However, Threads isn’t journalist-friendly for now. Private conversations are among integral parts of social media. In spite of being an Instagram associate, direct messages (DMs) are missing from Threads.

Users can switch multiple accounts in the blink of an eye on Twitter. Meanwhile, Threads does not allow a single user to manage multiple accounts, for now. In terms of privacy, the platform will trace data from over 150 categories including financial info, contacts, purchases and more.

Still, Threads proved to be a threat to Twitter. CEO of cloud service company CloudFlare says the Elon Musk owned platform has lost traffic recently. News provider CNBC reported it lost 5% traffic during the first two days after Threads was launched. The application topped 100 Million users faster than ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot.

Meta Platforms Forges an Interoperable Network

Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the platform has gone through immense changes, some of which didn’t go well with the current user base. Recently, the Twitter CEO restricted the number of Tweets a user can see. Consequently, the act sparked a backlash from the community according to the Financial Times.

Musk’s move to restrict viewable tweets increased the worth of other microblogging websites including Hive Social, Mastodon, Tumblr and more in users’ eyes as there is no such restriction in these spaces. While Hive and Mastodon hold nearly 1 Million and 10 Million users respectively, Tumblr maintains a well over 500 Million.

Meta Platforms is reportedly working on its platforms’ interoperability. Now this is where things may get interesting. The social media giant has some of the leading platforms in terms of user base. The company may use an open and decentralized tech to create an interoperable network.

One may post a digital artwork on Facebook, a user may like it on Instagram, or comment from Twitter. Social applications will merely act as interface skin to interact if this happens. This undeniably links to Zuck Bucks metaverse vision. The metaverse is a network of interconnected virtual spaces able to interact with each other.

Zuckerberg announced in 2021 they are retitling the company from Facebook to Meta Platforms. His metaverse vision came to light along with the name change. He believes they are a company connecting people using technology and metaverse serving as the next frontier.

Threads Could be a Curse or a Boon to Twitter

Twitter vs Threads is more like Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg, and the latter appears to be winning the fight. Although Twitter might have an upper hand over Threads, Zuck Bucks is way ahead in the metaverse race. Or Threads can be promising to Twitter’s future. Several users after visiting the app chose not to go back.

The Instagram-based app has got around 138K reviews on Google Play Store with an average rating of 3.3 which is pretty average actually. Twitter is way ahead with 21.2 Million user reviews, maintaining 4.1 on average. Obviously, Threads has a long way forward to attain some milestones.

Mr. Musk and Mr. Zuckerberg do not need a cage fight when there’s already so much heat. Experts at think tank Brookings says Tesla CEO led firm could go bankrupt. Sponsors could pull back, hurting ads revenues. UK-based news website Daily Mail reported the company has already lost two-third of its value since Elon Musk took over.

Thankfully, Twitter is still well and operational. Users are slowly realizing Threads may be a threat to their Instagram account. Fear of losing their Instagram accounts is stirring a feeling of being trapped among some users. A return on Twitter is imminent, it appears.

Zuckerberg Vs Musk Is an Equally Intriguing Debate

Meta CEO used his Threads account to highlight that the Elon Musk led platform has not reached its potential yet, The Guardian reported. He believes there’s a lack of user-friendliness there. On the other hand, Meta Platforms is making Threads a user-friendly app as they go along. But the users’ feeling of being trapped is definitely a conundrum to resolve.

Elon Musk does not hold the same perception towards the metaverse as Mark Zuckerberg does. In fact, the Tesla CEO took a stab on virtual worlds in an interview with a satire website The Babylon Bee. He says, “Sure you can put a TV on your nose, I’m not sure that makes you ‘in the metaverse.”

Instead, he believes a chip inside the skulls is a better alternative. Tesla CEO owns a neurotechnology company Neuralink working on implantable brain-computer interfaces. However, the company allegedly experimented on animals first. Reuters reported last year that the medical device organization is under federal investigation following allegations.

Virtual Spaces Could Be a Big Enabler of Success

It all boils down to which technology will see higher adoption. Metaverse, brain chips, spatial computing and more, it eventually connects to virtual spaces. The iPhone maker Apple recently announced their Vision Pro headset. The company is emphasizing on spatial computing instead of the metaverse.

Apple’s demonstration of its mixed reality (MR) headset Vision Pro in June 2023 was promising. Vision Pro depicted a highly interactive environment between users and App Store-centric apps. Future of Threads and Twitter may depend on how well an application goes along with such technology.

Just a few days before Apple revealed its headgear, Meta Platforms pulled Quest 3 out of the bag. The virtual reality headset is the most powerful product in its fleet of gadgets to this date. Tech giants like Microsoft, HTC, Google and more are also in the race to the top of the metaverse mountain.

Although Meta Platforms lost a large chunk from its value, the company is recovering well since the year began. META stock lost almost 80% valuation between September 2021 and November 2022. Hefty investments in metaverse research was reportedly the reason for the loss. However, it has gained over 250% in the first half of 2023.

Elon Musk alleges that Mark Zuckerberg stole their secrets by hiring people from Twitter after the company laid them off. Responding to a tweet, he said that ‘Competition is fine, cheating is not.’ Musk also accused Meta of scraping Twitter data.

Who is Winning The Twitter vs Threads Battle?

According to some Wall Street analysts, it’s difficult for Threads to outshine Twitter. Even though the former has accumulated a large number of users quickly, it is yet to achieve a user base similar to the latter. Threads vs Twitter could be a tight battle given Meta’s existing user base and Twitter’s experience and early bird advantage.

Amid this tug-of-war, Islamist group Haqqani network has jumped into the debate. Anas Haqqani, a Taliban leader, asserts that Zuckerberg’s app cannot replace the Elon Musk led platform. According to The New York Times report, Meta Platforms blocked access to Taliban members’ Whatsapp accounts.

Given the scarcity of features in Threads, it is not a Twitter killer yet. Since its inception in 2006, Twitter is at the vanguard when it comes to detecting a trend. Engagement on Threads is tanking after its red-hot debut according to CNBC. Data from web analytics firm Similarweb shows daily active users (DAUs) are down 25%.

Audience research company GWI (formerly GlobalWebIndex) data shows Meta Platforms’ family of apps still dominates social media space. Twitter sits at number six. Nonetheless, this does not mean that Threads is on its way to the top. Zuckerberg’s Threads is still an infant in front of Elon Musk’s Twitter.