When Meta released it’s Twitter alternative Threads this week, could anyone really predict that it would be quickly adopted? Initially results have 70 millions registered users compared to the 230 million Twitter had before Elon Musk drove the social media titan into the ground with his boorish behavior. While it’s still early to call Meta’s Threads the Twitter killer, it does seem that with the decline of Twitter that people are looking for an alternative.
Elon Musk is the Problem
Honestly there wouldn’t be a need for another text social media platform had Elon Musk and his overinflated ego drive Twitter into the ground. Musk is a prime example that having billions of dollars doesn’t automatically make you a genius. His blatant disregard for the people who built and keep Twitter afloat has not only led workers to flee, but advertisers and users as well.
Twitter was never going to big, scale and user wise, as Facebook or Instagram but what it did offer, kept it’s users coming back. But that is no longer the story.
Musk has turned the platform into a right-wing cesspool of hate and bigotry. No longer are users seeing tweets from the people they follow, instead Musk in all his grand wisdom thought it would be better for his users to see all the hate that now makes Twitter it’s home.
One would also be remised not to mention the fact that every other week, and days lately, the application is either crashing or not functioning properly. While Musk claims these are just growing pains or hiccups it clear to see he has no idea how Twitter functions. And even with all his billionaire genius status, it’s easy to see that while he fancies himself some eccentric genius akin to Tony Stark he is nothing more than a fake knock off like Justin Hammer.
Meta’s Threads was Musk’s doing and eventual undoing. And he has no one to blame but himself.
The Appeal of Meta’s Threads
Instant feedback so far has been more favorable than not. Users like the fact that they can sign in via their Instagram login and then port over all the profiles they follow at once. The biggest issue with a new social media application is getting followers and finding profiles to follow. Meta was smart to incorporate their Instagram data to help make that transition easier.
While it’s still early in the adoption phase, the lack of ads and hate is a positive. Unlike Twitter where all you see are people just being racists, misogynist, homophobic and everything else; it’s refreshing to see people posting about relatively positive things.
Another feature that has been impressive in Meta’s Threads are the carousel of images and videos. There are no hard cropping like Twitter and the resolution is better in Threads as it is in Instagram
The Downside of Meta Threads
Everything can’t always be all rosy right? It does feel as if Threads was rushed out because they could smell blood in the water. And that blood was from Twitter hemorrhaging users and advertisers. There are still a lot of kinks and features that need to be worked out for it to be truly labeled a Twitter Killer.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Meta’s Threads is its connection with Instagram. If you wanted to delete your Threads account you will also have to delete your Instagram account. Once those two were joined, they were joined for life. Something Meta neglected to mention during the registration phase. You can delete individual threads, but like a gang, once you’re in, you’re in for life.
The Meta Monopoly
The biggest issue with Threads is that is seems like Meta is pushing for a monopoly on social media. Already having Facebook and Instagram and now a Twitter alternative in Threads, it just feels like Meta is trying to consolidate all the power in social media and that is terrifying.
While Elon Musk has been seen as the scourge of social media at the moment, Mark Zuckerberg is no angel himself. While he may be the genius part that Musk claims to be, Zuckerberg has made it blatantly clear in the past how he thinks he knows better than most and what people want.
And now giving Zuckerberg all this personal data from Facebook to Instagram to Threads should raise a red flag or ten.
What is next a TikTok alternative?
Zuckerberg and Meta have no shame in cloning popular features from other social media in hopes of keeping users on their platforms and running their competition out of business.
Is Threads the Twitter Killer
It’s too early to call Threads the Twitter killer, but it is clear that Twitter is dying. The cause of it’s impending death is the cancer known as Elon Musk. It’s too late for Twitter. The last rights have been administered and it’s on hospice care.
Sure there are loyal Twitter users who, like those on the Titanic, won’t jump ship even though the ship has already broken into two and is now plunging into the cold depths of the ocean. Rose couldn’t save Jack even though there was room on that door and right now Meta is on that very door watching Musk and Twitter sink to the bottom.
We can deny that Twitter is dying, but we would just be lying to ourselves. With every passing day millions more are signing up on Threads and it won’t be long before they have more users than Twitter.
It looks like, at the current rate, that Threads will be sewn into the fabric of our daily social media lives. Can it be what Twitter was intended to be or will Zuckerberg, like Musk, allow his ego and his need for control ruin another social media application?
Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash