Threads vs Twitter: The Race for Digital Conversations

Having surpassed 100 million users in just 5 days, Threads is Meta's latest gambit in its quest for social media dominance (alongside Instagram, Whatsapp, and Facebook). Also known as Meta's standalone Twitter competitor, Threads is a friendly alternative but now faces a potential lawsuit from Elon Musk who marked it as "cheating".

That's a lot to take on in the 1st week of Threads' launch, a week that also saw the app not being allowed to launch in the European Union and tagged as a possible security threat. But looks like Zuckerburg did not want Twitter to dominate text sharing and public conversations like Google did to search engines. Although with Twitter's vibrant existing community, the question arises whether Threads is a long-term contender or one just for the hype.

This article hopes to explore Meta's motivations to enter the space, why Twitter threatened them with legal actions, and what do we users need to worry about.

What is Threads?

Taking advantage of their 1 Billion monthly active users on Instagram, Threads is a new app Meta built for users to share text updates and join public conversations in real-time. Posts can accomodate up to 500 characters long and include, links, photos, or videos up to 5 minutes long.

With Instagram's main focus on photo and video sharing, Threads aims to rival Twitter which is usually the 1st platform used by brands, business leaders, and politicians to provide real-time updates, and for users to get their news.

What took ChatGPT 2 months, TikTok 9 months, and Instagram 2.5 years, Threads pulled off in just 5 days, 100 million users! What is probably a result of an initial rush will likely see a steady increase in users coming this week.

Why release now?

Threads' release was very timely, largely capitalizing on the noise surrounding Twitter's volatility and unpredictability. "The backlash to Musk’s recent limiting of how many tweets people can see per day was a catalyzing event for getting the app out the door this week" says The Verge.

But that's just not it, since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter they lost 80% of their employees, added a new paid subscription feature (for the famous blue tick), changed the way the platform does content moderation, briefly banned links to competing social platforms (which was quickly reversed due to the backlash received) and many more.

When factors such as stability become an issue or if a product changes too drastically as Twitter did, it leaves an opening for competitors to come into a space that previously would have been difficult to operate in. Had Threads released a year ago, it would not have got the same traction that it did last week.

Why is Twitter threatening to sue Meta?

Twitter has accused Meta of unlawfully using its trade secrets and intellectual property. As reported by BBC, Twitter's attorney Alex Spiro stated that "Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees who had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information that ultimately helped Meta develop the copycat Threads app."

Although Meta reverted back stating no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee, Elon Musk is also concerned about Meta's intentions to monopolize the social media space.

Musk's tweet was a reminder of the importance of fair competition, and now Twitter will now need to prove that intellectual property has been stolen if the dispute is taken to court.?

Is Meta's growing power a worry?

Here are 3 main concerns for us as users:

1. The key concern is data collection. Meta's expansion means more user data which makes it a tempting target for hackers who only need to breach a single system to gain access to a vast pool of data.
2. Media experiences play a major role in our perception of society, others, and ourselves. If 1 company manages to gain a monopoly over this, they hold the power to influence and control our thoughts on any given topic (remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal?)
3. It strengthens Meta's position in surveillance advertising (when our personal data such as online activities, search queries, social media interactions, and location data is collected and analyzed to deliver targeted advertisements).

Conclusion

An Instagram account is required to sign up to Threads, and you cannot delete your Threads account until you delete your Instagram account, so those who have already signed up are not leaving anytime soon.

Despite Twitter's users migrating to alternative platforms since Musk's takeover last year, none have achieved the traction that Twitter still creates. However, with Instagram's existing base of 1 billion users the momentum may shift.

Thus, the biggest question facing Threads is if it has a chance of becoming a viable Twitter alternative for public conversations or will this be quietly shelved like the Metaverse. And all this lies in how they can value-add and stand out.

Disclaimer- ChatGPT or any other generative AI tool was NOT used or consulted in writing this article.