There's a social media war going on between Meta, Elon Musk,
Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg. Instagram's new social media
platform, Threads, has exploded onto the stage with a compelling
narrative of adoption and engagement.
Launched about 5 days ago, Threads has already attracted
about 100 million users and it's growing.
This accomplishment propels Threads into an elite bracket.
Far beyond ChatGPT, which took a full two months to amass a
comparable user base, it's evident that Meta, the company
behind Facebook and Instagram, has scored a significant
victory, with Threads strategically launched amid a
tumultuous period for Twitter. And the success of Threads isn't
merely a question of user numbers.
A platform is experiencing A tremendous surge in user
engagement. A flurry of posts on diverse
topics suggests that lively conversation and interaction.
Is at the heart of Threads burgeoning user base now.
This activity defies initial expectations from industry
insiders who predicted A slowdown after the app crossed
10 million downloads within the first seven hours of its launch.
Now the thriving popularity of Threads has been achieved
despite the fact it is not yet globally available.
Not available in the European Union market due to regulatory
constraints. Now the prospect of future
growth though once Threads finally debuts in the market.
Is huge and we're going to get more in depth on this in just a
moment, so please stick around now.
For potential Threads users, it's important to be aware of
the app's deep integration with Instagram.
This link is so strong that the deletion of a Threads account
also requires the deletion of a connected Instagram profile.
This aspect could certainly benefit from revision to allow
for more user autonomy and flexibility while maintaining
the connectivity that makes Threads so appealing.
And I guess they're making a new edit button where you can delete
your Threads account while still maintaining your Instagram
account now. Threads accelerated growth
trajectory is undeniably impressive.
So much so, the platform has given birth to a new sort of
language in the realm of social media.
The act of engaging conversation on threads has been dubbed
threading by its young demographic, and this is an
example of the cultural impact that Threads has already made
threads best in the glow of early success.
The platform, highly linked to Instagram, still in its infancy,
is ripe with promise for the future.
Android users in particular can be part of this forward momentum
through the beta program available on Google Play Store,
offering them a glimpse into the platform's evolutionary
trajectory. In any beta testing phase, users
should be prepared for instability or unusual behavior.
Things might break, and despite these issues, participation in
the beta program could offer a generally positive user
experience for those that are in it.
Our upcoming features for Threads include a personalized
feed option showing only followed accounts, enhanced
account deletion flexibility, post search and editing
capabilities, language translations, hashtags, and
support for multiple accounts. And I believe the Twitter killer
here could be if the edit button for free the house you have to
pay right now on Twitter to edit a tweet, and if Threads does
this for free. There's no turning back.
They gotta go all in. And these forthcoming
enhancements signal the trajectory of threads to
becoming more thought out and comprehensive social media
platform. Now the success story of threads
raises a significant question. Will these early adopters become
long term, engaged users? Early engagement data seems
encouraging but not quite at par with Twitter's user dynamism.
The report from The Verge disclosed that two days after
Threads launched, the platform's 30 million users had posted more
than 95 million times and shared 190,000,000 likes.
This is impressive, yet it pales in comparison to Twitter users
who tweet 500,000,000 times per day in 2022.
So Adam Masri, head of Instagram, stated that Threads
isn't trying to replace Twitter, though.
Instead, it aims to create a unique space for Instagram
communities who never fully integrated with Twitter, as well
as those on other platforms seeking more civil spaces for
discourse. Meta strategy, it seems, is to
attract a portion of Twitter's audience while creating a more
advertising friendly platform with Twitter and this out.
The meta strategy, it seems, is to attract a portion of
Twitter's audience while creating a more advertiser
friendly platform with threads. This involves curating an
environment that does not amplify divisive content.
Now, in Masri's vision, Twitter and Threads aren't mutually
exclusive. They coexist in the digital
world, each trying to increase user engagement and advertising
revenue. Users will ultimately decide
what platforms they like better, or whether they might require
both platforms for different reasons.
And also for different audiences.
And while Twitter may remain a source for news, threads could
emerge as a preferred platform for indepth conversations and
more friendly banter. A comparative study conducted by
Alex Stamos, director of the Stanford Internet Observatory,
revealed an intriguing trend though.
Despite having fewer followers on threads, Stamos has post
guarded more engagement on threads than on Twitter.
This observation suggests that if Twitter users begin to
recognize deeper, more meaningful conversations
occurring on threads, Twitter's engagement could face a
significant threat. The most substantial challenge
to Twitter's user engagement seems to stem from within the
platform. Mashable recently reported that
Twitter has begun restricting previously free features to paid
subscribers. Now this shift has generated
uncertainty among its predominantly free users,
effectively pushing them either subscribe or consider
alternative platforms like Threads.
Now, threads operating similarly to Twitter and offering seamless
integration with Instagram followers could present a
lucrative alternative to the scrumpled Twitter's users.
Threads commitment to actively responding to user feedback and
continuously adding features based on this feedback could
bolster the platform's appeal. The upcoming edition of popular
Twitter features such as hashtags and search functions,
confirmed by Mossery, only strengthens the attractiveness
of people wanting to go over the threads.
So in contrast to Threads responsive approach, Twitter's
executive Yucarino remains confident of Twitter's unique
and irreplaceable status. Despite this, the increasing
traction of threads and focus on user feedback in the planned
feature enhancements all point towards an increasingly dynamic
and competitive social media landscape in the future.
Now threads early success is full of potential and these
platforms will be battling for a while to get user engagement and
more users on their platforms. Strategic timing, engaging
content and ambitious future plans show the Threads is in it
for the long haul. We're in it for the long haul
too. And we'll be here for all the
Threads versus Twitter engagement here on this podcast.
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