Threads goes live

If it wasn't already clear that Threads is Meta's answer to Twitter, you only need look at the glaring '@' logo, with its nod to the way Twitter handles have always been presented. With an interface and layout that's similar to Twitter in appearance, users will find it easy enough to navigate. The big challenge is that it's yet another social media site that users will have to build an audience on, and many may simply not want to spend time doing that. Whether it takes off to the extent that Meta anticipates remains to be seen, but Instagram marketers should appreciate it because the cross-posting functionality finally brings clickable links to the platform.

Threads is well-positioned to obtain significant market share and is a genuine competitor to Twitter. Musk will have a busy in-tray this morning. Threads' advantage is its direct connection to Instagram's massive user base, which is 5x the size of Twitter, which means Meta only needs 20% of its active Instagram users to join Threads to overcome Twitter. Meta continues to provide a safer environment for advertisers on its platforms, which will be critical to the platform's long-term viability.

Threads, not to be confused with a similar app that owns the .com and the Google App Name, is a branded Mastodon server without a website and an app that hasn't even implemented hashtags yet. With this branding failure and lacklustre implementation of the Fediverse (Mastadon), Elon Musk has nothing to worry about in the immediate future.

Mark Zuckerberg really doesn’t like Elon Musk, does he? 10 million users in under 7 hours is one hell of a launch. In the start-up screen is a mention of the Fediverse, with the promise that the platform's future iterations will be able to communicate with other social networks. Threads is inviting everyone to party in one big space, agnostic of whether the person they are communicating with is signed up and active on Instagram, Mastodon, Snapchat or, who knows, even Twitter too? Let's see if it flies. It certainly looks that way so far.

Twitter came out 17 years ago and even then it was a little dated. 140 characters only. Skip forward and Threads arrives, and offers absolutely nothing new or inventive. And yet, because Twitter is a vacuous hell-hole of twisted keyboard warriors, far right and left nob-heads and £8 blue ticks, it seems those addicted to posting are scrambling for somewhere to live online. Meanwhile, Meta’s track record on data and privacy would suggest that they’ll get to profile you from your writings easily and users will be served even more personalised ads. I’ll pass.

I'm liking it so far. It's a great opportunity to add features people have been wanting on Twitter for years. Yep it's a bit clunky still, but it’s literally Day 1 so cut the Zuck some slack. It's crashing when I'm trying to post, and there's no easy way to juggle multiple accounts, but overall it feels ‘nicer’ than my first day on Twitter. It immediately feels more welcoming.

Threads may be the shiny new toy that everyone wants to play with, but people will be quick to overlook the details. If you ever want to delete your Threads account then you have to delete your Instagram account, too. What Meta have done is outlandishly incredible really. They’ve created a platform that hoovers up your data, while making you a hostage who’s unable to do anything about it.

I can really see Threads making inroads into Twitter, which has been a basket case since Elon Musk bought it to supposedly fix it. Yes, there are features like search missing but I'm sure they'll be added later. The really interesting point is that this is connected to Instagram and not Facebook, which is clearly becoming the grumbling grandad of social media. I joined Threads this morning and I'm really encouraged. The sign-up process was so simple: just connect via an Instagram account and you are away. I have lots of followers already, as they pick up from the Instagram feed. The interface is a doddle, too. Chapeau.

Zuckerberg has landed the first punch, it seems. After agreeing to a cage fight with Musk, Zuckerberg has already come out fighting with his Twitter clone, Threads. His timing couldn’t be better. The Twitter community has grown tired of Musk’s antics very quickly, and for many last weekend, the rate limiting of Tweets that can be viewed might just be the final straw. Alternative platforms like Masterdon are too complicated for many people to switch, but Threads is simple to use. And with Instagram having 2 billion accounts, four times the size of Twitter’s user base, it’s very possible that Twitter’s days may be coming to an end. If Musk continues to play to the far right, hiding behind his flag of free speech, then now the grown-ups have somewhere else to play. Zuckerberg has a history of taking new services to the mass market quickly and making a success of them. It’s too early to know if this punch is a knockout, but it will have definitely bloodied Musk’s nose.

So I have just signed up and I'm not really sure why! Is it because I missed the boat on all the other social media platforms when they started out? Probably. Is it the same as Twitter? From my limited use on Twitter, 100% yes looks and feels exactly the same. Will I use it more than my dormant Twitter account? Yes, definitely. Well, at least for the first week or so. I guess the one thing that's different, because you can connect with your existing followers, it's not as scary, and an into-the-unknown leap. I already had 40 people who wanted to follow me as soon as I joined. So that's a nice feeling of popularity. Who knows what it'll look like in a week though?

I love it - being able to go more than 2 posts without an ad is a real novelty. Let's be honest, with Twitter in a shambles and Meta putting their might behind a really slick launch, it's definitely round 1 to the Zuck over Elon.

Threads seems to be a direct copy of Twitter, without much difference at all. Zuckerberg's opening Thread on the platform set out his ambition: to reach over a billion users.

In the first 7 hours, it has had over 10 million downloads, so is still a long way from this. However, I expect to see some prompts appear from the Instagram app in the coming days to nudge users into opening a Threads account. If it can convince its 1.2 billion-plus Instagram users to try it then it may just have a chance.

However, the stickiness of the app is the question. Will there be enough engaging content to keep users coming back, and do people really need another social media app in their lives?