It’s been a challenging year for Twitter. Now in its Elon Musk era, the social platform’s name officially became X (though I will continue to call it Twitter in this article), lost millions of users, and is now being boycotted by advertisers.
It seems like people should be looking for alternatives — but we have one. In early July 2023, Meta released “Threads.” The text-based social media app surpassed 150 million downloads in less than two weeks and peaked at roughly 50 million active users. The buzz faded quickly, and usership declined just as fast as it rose. By October, it was estimated that Threads had five times fewer active users than it did in July.
For a while, it felt like everyone was talking about Threads, but it had a problem: People weren’t actually talking on Threads.
Twitter’s projections for 2024 aren’t looking favorable, and this should provide an opportunity for Threads to gain favor. Most likely, that won’t happen, because the platform isn’t offering what Twitter users are looking for.
Why did people leave Threads?
It’s not a huge shock that millions of people signed up for Threads once it was released. The platform was linked to Instagram — a social network that has over 2 billion users. This made it easy to log on, but that didn’t mean people would connect with the service.
When Elon Musk acquired Twitter, it had many established communities and people knew what to expect. Threads gave users a blank slate to escape Musk and reestablish those communities, but that slate is far from becoming a Twitter killer — and there are multiple reasons people don’t care for the Meta-owned platform.
Privacy concerns
If you don’t want to share any personal data, you should stay far, far away from social media. Some personal info will inevitably be shared, but Facebook has taken it to a new level with its history of privacy concerns. Much like Facebook, Threads is owned by Meta, so it’s understandable that there would be overlapping data concerns.
Even if you ignore Meta’s prior data breaches, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Threads openly collects more data than Twitter. Both networks will store location info, access to your contacts, and retain your search history. Additionally, Threads users are agreeing to share financial info, health data, and “sensitive information.”
Meta is creating an ecosystem that is fueled by personal data, and users probably notice this in the ads that appear on their accounts. Addressing concerns isn’t even a top priority. For four months, you couldn’t even truly delete your Threadsaccount without deleting Instagram — though Meta did eventually provide a solution.
It’s not for news
If you’ve heard about Twitter recently (for any reason other than its new owner), it’s likely because it’s been a source of breaking news. The platform has become intertwined with the current political landscape, and Twitter even markets itself as a place to share news in real-time.
Threads is the opposite. When the platform first launched, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri claimed that Threads wouldn’t be used to amplify political or breaking news content. That’s not to say that these discussions are banned, users can certainly share this information. However, Threads won’t promote these genres in the same way it supports other content like music, fashion, or sports because it doesn’t want to take a political stance.
Breaking news, and the controversies it brings, has been critical in Twitter’s growth. In many cases, the social network has been the first source of news, and individuals can tell unfiltered stories without other media outlets interfering. This helped Twitter to establish its identity and demonstrate its value, but that’s not how Threads wants to build itself. Meta’s platform fears hard news will bring controversy, and that’s not worth the users it would gain.
Many features are missing
Twitter has earned a reputation as a place to discuss “trending” topics, but that concept doesn’t have a place on Threads. The platform doesn’t have a centralized spot for buzzing topics, nor does it present any data around keywords — perhaps as an attempt not to promote news.
Historically, trends serve as conversation starters to get people engaging with apps, and this can help people find communities related to popular topics. Threads also lacks a direct messaging feature, further making it difficult to have conversations. While close friends could always move those conversations to Instagram, this makes it hard to make new connections in virtual groups.
Other quality-of-life features are missing on the app, like drafts, muted words, and post metrics. While these features weren’t always a part of the Twitter experience, they are now, making Threads feel like a regression.
Will Threads ever be a threat?
Here’s the thing about Twitter: There is a demand for short-form, text-based social networking. Hundreds of millions of people have embraced the platform for a reason, but there have been many problems with the business model and user experience since Elon Musk took over.
Musk’s polarizing personality has scared people away, but users want the platform they knew in 2021. Threads has many similarities to classic Twitter, but it feels like a hard compromise to use a platform that strips away many features that were added to Twitter over the past decade.
It almost feels like Threads was released too soon, and it’s been playing catchup since its launch. To its credit, many features were added before the end of 2023. In August, the web version launched, support for polls and gifs came in October, and tags (Threads’ version of hashtags) arrived in December.
With these developments, the app is starting to show more promise, but this might be too little too late. If 2023 has told us anything, a lot could happen to Twitter. Elon Musk could make more polarizing decisions and scare people away from the app. But, if Twitter gets its act together, it could slow its shed and diminish the need for alternate platforms.
As it stands, ex-tweeters will view Threads as one of many options. For short-form content, users may want to explore Bluesky (an app in its beta stage by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey), Mastodon, or Truth Social (the Trump-backed network). Meanwhile, virtual communities and interest groups may find Reddit or Discord appealing options.
The truth is, Threads’ biggest appeal, and the reason it gained so many users upon its launch is because it’s just there. It’s connected to Meta’s other services, making it really easy to log on. Then, people see what’s lacking, and they get rid of the app. While Twitter did lose some users in 2023, Threads wasn’t the reason people left. Until it offers the features people expect, Threads will be an app lurking in Twitter’s shadows — not the app that replaces Twitter.
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