Threads - a new threat to Twitter
Earlier in July 2023, the company Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, launched a new social media called Threads. Threads broke records by gaining over 100 million registered users in less than a week, including numerous celebrities and brands.
Threads could be a new threat to Twitter, now X, which has been facing negative reactions since its owner became the controversial businessman Elon Musk.
What is Threads actually?
Threads is a social media owned by Meta that is connected to Instagram. Threads allows users to share content primarily focused on text, but users can also post photos and videos.
Unlike Twitter, which has a character limit of 280 and allows up to 4 photos per tweet, Threads allows users to write up to 500 characters, post up to 10 photos, and share videos up to 5 minutes long. However, unlike Twitter, Threads don’t have hashtags, and there is no function to search for specific text or phrases.
Additionally, Threads is linked to users' Instagram profiles and allows direct sharing of posts to Instagram Stories.
Many users have expressed concern about the fact that a Threads account cannot be deleted independently. So, if you want to delete your account on Threads, you will have to delete your Instagram account as well.
Main differences between Threads and Twitter
We must agree that Threads bears a striking resemblance to Twitter. Options such as liking, sharing, and commenting are available on both platforms and in both cases, textual posts are the focus, with photos and videos being less prevalent. However, there are several differences between these two social media, and from the user's perspective, Twitter has more functional benefits.
Threads is a social media that can only be accessed by users who have an Instagram profile (which may change in the future), it cannot be used on a desktop, there are no hashtags, and there is no capability to search for phrases, unlike Twitter.
So, you cannot search for trending topics or news using keywords or hashtags; instead, the content you see is served by the algorithm. It is still uncertain whether there will be changes to these features. Threads presumably gather data from users' Instagram accounts to "deliver" topics (and likely ads in the future) that would interest them.
Twitter has recently introduced the option to edit a post, but once you post something on Threads, you can't edit it. Also, advertising on this platform is still not an option, but since it's a younger cousin of popular Instagram, we have no doubt it will be enabled soon.
One advantage of Threads over Twitter is the higher character limit, the number of images, and the length of videos that can be posted in one post.
Regarding profile verification (blue checkmark), Threads has the upper hand, as verification on Twitter comes with a cost, while for Threads users, it is free because verification from their Instagram profile is "transferred" to the Threads user account, which attracts many influencers to this media as verification is guaranteed. The question is what will happen when paid verification is introduced on Instagram, which has been announced for some time now.
Is Threads really a threat to Twitter?
Instagram's CEO, Adam Mosseri, has emphasized that Threads does not intend to compete with Twitter and, instead, they aim to serve communities that have not been embraced on Twitter.
However, the owner of Twitter has repeatedly criticized the new social media. On July 8th, he posted on his account: „Accurate assessment. Threads is just Instagram minus pics, which makes no sense, given that thirst pics are the main reason people use that app. How many times have you read comments on Insta pics & wished there were more? Personally, never.”
There is also news that Elon Musk might sue Mark Zuckerberg for intellectual property theft. As he stated, Zuckerberg has hired a large number of people who left Twitter when he became the owner.
The question that arises is whether Threads will replace Twitter. People who are active on Twitter are mainly oriented toward political topics. On Twitter, many subjects are not censored, allowing those with more extreme points of view to enjoy a network where hate speech can be presented as freedom of speech. On the other hand, Threads have clear rules, and many topics are not allowed, as they aim to create a pleasant environment for their users. Of course, we should not idealize Meta either; we will wait to see what fake news and unnecessary advertisements will be presented to users in the future.
https://subhodipc.medium.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-threads-over-twitter-900268455591
