Threads: Zuckerberg's best punch at Musk?

On July 5th, 2023, Mark Zuckerberg released Instagram’s newest counterpart, Threads, a text-based app that allows users to express their previous video- and photo-based content in written form. Marketed as a friendlier alternative to Twitter, the popular social media platform known for its hostile and “free-for-all” nature, Threads seemed to only improve upon all of the best parts of its big competitor. With the ability to edit posts, repost, and share content, as well as the addition of advanced personalization, the app touched on all of the fan-favorite aspects of Twitter––minus the drama.

Indeed, with Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, the historic app’s popularity has begun to collapse, with many outraged with his choice to rebrand the iconic logo and name to “X,” stripping the app of one of its most beloved attributes. However, rebranding is not the only thing that Twitter users have had qualms with, as the app has taken a highly political dive in the last few years, with once amiable posts commenting on sports or popular entertainment being replaced with cutthroat and hostile jabs at governmental issues and personal beliefs. With the fall of one of social media's largest platforms, it only seems right that some alternative would come along sooner or later.

Zuckerberg, a long-time enemy of Elon Musk, saw this ruination as an opportunity to rival his biggest competitor in the social media world. Spreading notifications through Instagram itself, Zuckerberg took every change to promote the new app, even creating a badge on users' profiles if they downloaded the app, further enhancing its traction through users’ individual accounts. Within days, the app gained a record-breaking following, surpassing 100 million downloads after just 5 days. For reference, it took Twitter 5 years and 5 months to reach that same milestone.

It seemed that Threads had taken the world by storm, and its success appeared inevitable; however, despite the app’s rapid growth, I do not believe that it will last. To create an app solely reliant on the condition of another is a risky move considering the inconsistency of a platform that is completely dependent on individual user retention. Moreover, people download apps because they offer something they could not access before. Whether it be a new opportunity for entertainment, socializing, business, or anything in between, users desire a better and more convenient alternative to some interest they have, clicking the download button to fulfill this passion. This concept immediately highlights the problematic nature of Threads; branded as a better alternative to Twitter, the app broadcasts itself as something that has already been produced––something that has been used for many years. Furthermore, no matter how upset people become with Twitter’s changes, the wide range of communities within the app means complete user abandonment from Twitter is virtually impossible, and it is unrealistic to expect all Twitter users to switch to a new platform. To believe that successful accounts on Twitter would give up their following merely for a “friendlier” and more positive alternative, although conceptually enticing, is irrational, as users would lose all of their progress and essentially need to start from scratch.

Additionally, the record-breaking usership is highly misleading, with the new app’s popularity plummeting each day. According to CNN, Threads’ daily usership is down almost 82% since its launch, with only 8 million users out of the original 150 million accessing the app each day, compared to Twitter’s 259.4 million users per day. Although Threads seemed to initially rival the usership of Twitter during its first few days, it is now evident that many only downloaded the app due to Instagram’s incessant notifications, almost forcing users to link their accounts.

Even the defining concept for Threads is flawed: although the idea of creating a purely positive and inclusive experience for users sounds ideal, almost all popular social media apps today started as a free-for-all. It is this freedom to openly share one’s beliefs that makes social media so crucial, for without such important conversations these apps are almost futile. Moreover, attempts to moderate discussions within the app are not only limiting but unrealistic when considering Zuckerberg's aspirations of surpassing Twitter. Although Twitter may currently appear to be a warzone to onlookers, there are so many unique groups within the app that characterizing it only for its political controversies is simply inaccurate. People like traditions and routines; it is against our nature to abandon something that we have grown attached to. Thus, despite Zuckerberg’s hopes of capitalizing on Twitter’s instability with Threads, the fleeting fad will never fully replace the original, no matter how unoriginal Musk attempts to make it.

Catherine Bain