Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has launched a competitor to Twitter called Threads, and, thus far, the reactions have been mixed.
The app prematurely dubbed by fans as the ‘Twitter killer’, available at the moment only for iOS and Android users (meaning it can’t be used on a desktop PC like Twitter), officially launched Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm.
Several hours later, Zuckerberg announced on Threads that the app had already received over 10 million sign-ups:
Keep in mind, Twitter already had an estimated 450 million monthly active users as of 2022. Yet Zuckerberg genuinely appears to believe his new app, which isn’t even desktop friendly, will somehow beat Twitter one day.
“It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1bn+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will,” he reportedly wrote on Threads sometime Wednesday.
Speaking of Twitter, Zuckerberg also returned to his Twitter account late Wednesday for the first time since 2012 to post the following tweet, seemingly mocking the battle between him and Elon Musk, now the owner of Twitter:
— Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) July 6, 2023
Musk, for his part, seems to have serious doubts about Threads’ ability to ever overtake Twitter.
“It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” he tweeted late Wednesday.
It’s not clear what he meant by the tweet, but it did seem to be a criticism of Threads.
It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2023
It’s possible he was referencing the fact that Meta in general (including all of its properties like Facebook, Instagram, and now Threads) is a censorious place.
Indeed, in one Thread posted late Wednesday, Zuckerberg specifically noted that he’s “focusing on kindness and making this a friendly place.”
Moreover, reports have already emerged of Threads censoring allegedly offensive content such as the facts about biological science:
There is no point being on an app like Threads, with the censorship policies of Facebook & Instagram.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) July 6, 2023
Threads is already trash, censoring people instantly for “disinformation” and warning users not to follow them. I’m not even gonna bother wasting my time with it. #threadapp
— Brian McWilliams (@BrianMcWilliams) July 6, 2023
Considering Threads is already censoring people that don’t think correctly, it will fail because no one wants a hivemined platform.
Just ask Parler, Gettr, Truth Social.
People want to interact with all viewpoints, not be “protected” from others thoughts— Kirk Brown (@The_Kirk_Brown) July 6, 2023
I joined Threads today to see what’s up.
It’s slow.
Shit.
Already censoring biology.
And the best thing is all the people who cried about Twitter selling verifications are now buying Meta blue check marks via Instagram.
It’s essentially a crap Twitter full of groomers.
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) July 6, 2023
Lol threads already censoring people. Ya.. nice twitter killer.. pic.twitter.com/M0giw6x2Rc
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) July 6, 2023
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta’s new app, Threads, has promised users a better experience than Twitter, but he is censoring users and offering no avenue for appeal. pic.twitter.com/kAHbKGFgI0
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) July 6, 2023
Part of what has made Musk’s Twitter so popular is it’s a free-speech zone where all free speech is tolerated so long as it doesn’t violate the law. Zuckerberg’s platforms, on the other hand, appear to be safe spaces where only state-sanctioned opinions and facts may be openly shared.
With this in mind, Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade warned the network’s watchers on Thursday about using the new app. Speaking on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” he reminded everybody that Facebook has a record of working with the government to silence free speech.
“Mark Zuckerberg’s trying to get you again. Does anyone think he’s not going to collect all of you, pull [you] away from Twitter, and then begin to manipulate again?” he said.
Listen:
That said, Threads does have its believers.
Take a guy named Dr. Danish, who predicted Threads will be half the size of Twitter within a month:
Threads is eating Twitter.
Within 7 hours of its launch, threads is already 3% the size of twitter.
By tomorrow, it will likely be at 10%.
In a month or so, it may be half the size of twitter.
This is not a drill. pic.twitter.com/iowZ0oOq06
— Dr Danish (@operationdanish) July 6, 2023
Now, while Threads shares some design elements with Twitter, there are a couple of key differences between the two platforms, with one big one being that Threads is linked to Meta’s Instagram.
“The new app allows existing Instagram users to use their login credentials to log into Threads. As with Instagram, Threads users can follow friends and creators with shared interests — including the accounts and content they already follow on Instagram,” according to Axios.
“Everyone who joins Threads who is under 16 in the U.S. will have their account set to private by default. Thread users can share posts up to 500 characters long, in addition to links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length,” the site reported Wednesday.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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