Another strike in the Elon Musk versus Mark Zuckerberg media war is the creation of Threads — a new platform from Instagram where people can create real time posts and participate in conversational threads. Dubbed as the “Twitter Killer,” Threads is a form of social media that highly resembles Twitter, which was recently purchased and rebranded by Musk.
Digging its own grave, Twitter’s new owner created a limit on the number of posts that can be viewed daily in an attempt to prevent AI companies from taking over. However, this limitation is further pushing people to Threads, an identical platform for posting and discussing in real time.
Reaching over 30 million signups since the app debuted on July 5th, Threads has become the largest platform to reach one million users in the shortest amount of time. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been posting on Threads the number of progressive signups, with over two million in the first two hours.
Upon downloading the app, users can automatically log in with their Instagram account and follow every user they already do on their Instagram in one click. Functioning similarly to Twitter, Threads has a home page where users are flooded with thousands of posts from both their following and verified or popular accounts.
Account settings are mainly synonymous with Instagram, but profiles can be public on Threads without being public on Instagram. Connecting with Instagram upon joining, Threads automatically shows a personal profile number in a new user’s Instagram bio to promote their account.
As Threads gains popularity, it leads many people to question the future of Twitter. Ever since Musk took over, hate speech and offensive content has surged on Twitter, which has led many users to prefer Threads.
Companies have been quick to take advantage of this platform, and almost everyone with an Instagram can be found on this new app. The future of this app is debatable — will it become a place for discussions or advertising? Although the app is currently boasting its lack of ads — and Twitter’s amount of them — it is unsure if this will stay the norm, or if personal advertising will begin to overflow.
The release of this app followed shortly after the news of Musk and Zuckerberg’s alleged “cage match.” Musk posted on Twitter the following tweet: “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.” Zuckerberg responded to this by posting the tweet and stating, “Send me location.” Whether this brawl is happening or not, both billionaires are taking it very seriously.
Whether this app is just another battle in a technology war or a safer platform for discussion, there is now a lot of uncertainty about the future of social media.
