Will Threads Kill Twitter?

Theme:

The majority of individuals first learned about Threads through a little pop-up on their Instagram accounts one morning in July. Many jumped on board instantly to what looked like the identical twin of Twitter. Mass hysteria over the very existence of the app was evident from the very first “Thread” on the app. The public feud between the founders, Musk and Zuckerberg, only served to intensify the awkwardness.

What is Threads?

Threads is an Instagram-powered text-only app that has a very similar design and functionality to Twitter. It directly links to an Instagram user’s profile and lets them access ‘threads’ or messages from people they follow. Much like Twitter, Threads allow you to make text posts with up to 500 characters. The platform gives the easy application of five minutes long videos.

Is Threads the new Twitter?

Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta, the business behind Threads, has acknowledged the similarities between the two. He introduced Threads in his first tweet after 11 years. He used a meme with Spiderman pointing at Spiderman to show how Twitter is similar to Threads.

Threads has reportedly adopted the best features from Instagram and aims to create an open and free micro-blogging platform. The platform, according to Zuckerberg, had already attracted two billion users in the first two hours.

Key differences:

As obvious as the similarities are, the arrival of a new social media platform always guarantees a new user experience. Threads brings with it vital changes that will make it stand out from its competitors.

1-Content organization:
Twitter is a more real-time platform that popularizes short-form content. Threads however is a platform that equips users with better content organization. The Instagram feature called “Follow this thread” let users create a post on a specific topic by linking tweets and memes together. Threads help you do just that as a built-in function.

2-Length and Structure:
Compared to Twitter, Threads enables you to have a longer format post. Threads let the users literally thread together a bunch of posts to form a more comprehensive collection of thoughts.

3-Virality:
Tweets have higher findable and traction as compared to Threads aiding their virality. Threads, however are slower to spread online even after having gained traction.

4-Storytelling and flow:
Twitter oftentimes cannot serve the purpose of storytelling due to its short format. Whereas Threads is more suitable for ensuring the easy flow of narratives and hence become a more engaging platform for readers.

5-Use cases:
Twitter can be best used for a quick post that can range from news updates to a hilarious meme or a shared link. Despite having the same functionality, threads also allow for a slightly more organized and well-planned posting format.

What gap does Threads fill?

Threads targets revamping micro-blogging by weaving in the gaps of Twitter. Since you can log in on Threads through Instagram, you do not have to worry about finding people to follow initially. Threads also has major plans that it aims to bring to fruition in the future. According to reports, the goal is to make Threads work with ActivityPub.

ActivityPub is an open, decentralized networking protocol. This helps to accomplish fediverse, which is a group of federated open networking services that allow users of each service to communicate with users of other services without switching platforms. A sliver of this tech is already visible with users being able to post Threads on Instagram directly.

Even while this feature is not yet available, its potential is amazing and could be essential to Threads’ success.

How is user safety valued at Threads?

• Threads currently operates with a lot of tried and tested safety features of Instagram.
• Threads will automatically block the blocked content and users from Instagram.
• You can also control who can reply to you or tag you in your privacy settings.
• You can use a word filter to exclude specific words or the topics that surround them from your feed.

Additionally, threads uphold Instagram’s community standards, which forbid the spread of hate speech or content unfit for a variety of users. This step is what sets Threads apart from its rivals. In order to maintain Instagram’s policies, it has been stated that more than $16 billion has been spent on the technology and staff necessary. The rumor is that the same tools are used to maintain “constructive and respectful” discourse.

What about tech teens?

Hate speech and harassment have been a major setback for both Instagram and Twitter. Due to the enormous propagation of hate speech during Musk’s administration, Meta only appears to be performing better in comparison. This poses a problem mainly to the still vulnerable audience of teenage children.

Also worth noting is that Meta decided to connect Threads with Instagram rather than Facebook. Facebook is primarily used by an older demographic of people and is known for more illegal internet activities.

Conclusion:

Threads claimed its spot right on time with an increasing technical crisis at Twitter. Certain policies of Twitter, especially during Musk’s tenure, have made people second guess the platform. For instance, long-time users ridiculed at Twitter’s rule limiting free users to viewing a maximum of 600 tweets each day. The app does not follow the current AI acts and strict privacy regulations, that is why Threads is available in most of countries except the European Union.

Although Threads may eventually prove to be a more effective, secure, and user-friendly microblogging network, but Twitter does not appear to be losing ground to it.
The recognizable blue bird has vanished and been replaced with the letter “X,” signaling the beginning of what Elon Musk refers to as an “everything app.”

References: 
https://theweek.com/meta/1024831/will-threads-kill-twitter

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