Threads by Meta: The Latest Challenger to Twitter's Reign
Unveiling the main distinctions between Twitter & its newest contender, Threads by Meta.
Introduction
With the recent launch of Instagram Threads, social media enthusiasts are buzzing with talk about a possible contender to Twitter’s longstanding reign as the king of short-form content. With 50 million users signing up on its inaugural 48 hours, Threads is being hailed as a potential rival to Twitter, catching the eye of both industry experts and users dissatisfied with recent changes on the Twitter platform.
Threads by Meta's release might be the first salvo in what could become a heated competition between the two tech giants Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
Twitter has been popular for getting up-to-date news and having public conversations. However, Threads aims to create a big community where users can connect and have conversations. Threads' success will rely on its ability to offer a smooth and captivating platform for public conversations, making use of Meta’s extensive resources and user base.
As Meta enters the world of public conversations, it faces increased competition from Twitter. Both companies have their strengths and weaknesses. It is uncertain how well Threads will compete against Twitter, which is already dominant in the market. However, Meta's big goals and commitment to fixing Twitter's problems have created interesting competition in the world of social media.
While it’s too early to make any definitive declarations, let’s take a closer look at both platforms and see how they stack up.
Threads: How to Use It?
To use Threads, you must already have an Instagram account. This is because the platform requires you to sign in using your Instagram login information. After you create your Threads account, your Instagram username will be automatically transferred. However, you can choose to customize your profile if you want.
Bringing your Instagram network to Threads is simple and hassle-free. With just a few clicks, you can easily follow the same accounts on Threads that you already follow on Instagram. When you make a post or "Thread," you can decide who gets to see it. You can choose to share it with everyone or only with your followers.
Threads offer familiar features found on both Twitter and Instagram. When it comes to managing your profile, you have several options at your disposal, including unfollowing, reporting, blocking, or restricting. It's important to note that if you block someone on Instagram, they will also be blocked on Threads, ensuring consistent privacy controls across both platforms.
It's important to know that threads can only be accessed through iOS and Android apps, not on a desktop website.
Critical Reactions from the General Public
Online users have responded positively to the introduction of Threads, with some expressing relief at finally having a viable alternative to Twitter. On the other hand, the Apple App Store suggests that some users may be concerned about the app's possible access to their health, financial, and browsing data.
Users have also voiced displeasure at Threads' inability to separate its profiles from their connected Instagram accounts. Meta has recognized these issues and said they are working diligently to resolve them.
Comparing Meta's Threads to Twitter
Threads and Twitter have different purposes and appeal to different types of users, at least this is what they are claiming :)
Threads, created by Instagram, is a social networking app that lets you have a private and close connection with your friends. You can use it to share posts, photos, videos, and messages. Twitter, which is led by Elon Musk, is a worldwide platform where users can freely share their thoughts and participate in discussions on a large scale.
Twitter uses hashtags to help users discover content, but Threads does not have this feature. In addition, Threads can only be used on mobile apps, while Twitter can be accessed on various platforms. We'll compare and contrast some additional differences below.
Content Sharing and Limitations:
Twitter is a platform that emphasizes short and immediate updates with a maximum of 280 characters. Threads are great for sharing multimedia content in a more detailed way, while Twitter is better for short and quick updates. The posts in Thread are connected in order, creating a dialogue that can be 500 characters long.
Twitter implemented a rate limit recently. Unverified accounts can now read up to 600 posts per day, while users with a monthly subscription can read up to 6,000 posts per day. Threads have no limits or boundaries, regardless of whether you are verified or not.
Complaince Issues with Threads:
Threads by Meta can be used in over 100 countries, but it is not available in the European Union. However, Twitter recently launched its paid Twitter Blue service in 20 more countries in Europe.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, “It’s just going to take longer to make sure not only that it’s compliant but that any claims we make about how we’ve implemented compliance stand up to our very high set of documentation and testing centers internally.
Not just this, but as per some alleged reports, Twitter has shared serious concerns that Meta Platforms has stolen Twitter’s trade secrets to create the Threads App. There is no further information on this topic yet, but Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk has mentioned that, “competition is fine, cheating isn’t”.
Engagement:
One important difference between Threads and Twitter is how they manage the user feed. Twitter uses an algorithmic feed to show users a combination of tweets from accounts they follow, along with popular and trending content.
Threads are mainly designed to show posts from Instagram accounts that users follow, which makes the experience more personalized and curated. By using a curated approach, they make sure that users see content from the accounts they are interested in. This helps to encourage engagement and authentic interactions.
Privacy:
On Twitter, users can choose how private or public they want their account to be by customizing their privacy settings. After a tweet is posted, it is usually visible to everyone unless the user has a private account or chooses to delete the tweet. Privacy settings for Threads can differ based on the platform where they are made. Users can choose who can see and join their discussions.
Below is the comparison on what kind of information these two applications are sucking out of your mobile device.
Search Function:
Currently, the search function in Threads only allows you to search for user accounts. It cannot search for posts. Instagram announced that it will be introducing several new features to make it easier for users to discover threads and creators they are interested in. These features include enhanced recommendations in the feed and a stronger search function that allows users to follow topics and trends in real-time.
#Hashtags:
Threads, unlike Twitter, don't use hashtags and lack a search feature for finding specific text or phrases. Users can share up to 10 photos in a single post on this platform, which is the same limit as Instagram. In comparison, Twitter only allows four images per post. Moroever, Threads doesn’t have features like number count on videos, so you wouldn’t know how many times your video content was played by the users.
I think this option should be available, because this is one of those satisfying factors which every social media user love already.
Photography:
Instagram Threads is an offshoot of Instagram, which is a photography-based app. This, coupled with its ability to share more photos and videos – up to five minutes long – provides a significant edge in terms of photography content. While Twitter does support visual content, it pales in comparison to the photo and video-centric nature of Instagram Threads.
One thing I personally love about Threads is that it doesn’t crop your images, which Instagram clealry lacks at. Furthermore, videos up to whooping 5 minutes in length on Threads are shown in their correct orientation and thumbnail.
Conclusion:
Threads by Meta is positioning itself as a possible competitor to Twitter's current dominance in the world of social media. Threads has had a strong start because it has a lot of users from Instagram and it focuses on being a platform for conversations. Although Meta has some limitations compared to Twitter, they have demonstrated a dedication to enhancing the app and addressing user concerns.
The competition between Threads and Twitter is expected to be exciting as users and industry experts keep a close eye on their progress. But, in this rivalry, surely Facebook screen hours will further go down.
