Mark Zuckerberg has been determined to surpass Twitter and establish a central hub for public conversations on the internet. Despite Twitter’s resilience, this hasn’t deterred Mr. Zuckerberg. Now, his company, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has given a glimpse of a new app called Threads, directly targeting Twitter’s territory. Threads, connected to Instagram, will be available for download on Thursday and appears to function similarly to Twitter, with an emphasis on public conversations and the ability to follow Instagram accounts. Some in the tech community have even dubbed it the “Twitter killer.”
Mr. Zuckerberg’s timing is strategic, as Twitter is currently experiencing internal turmoil. Ever since Elon Musk acquired the social platform, he has made notable changes to its algorithms, content moderation rules, and user verification process. Additionally, Musk recently imposed restrictions on the number of tweets users can read, citing concerns about data scraping. As a result, Twitter users faced frustration when they exceeded their “rate limit.”
Amidst Twitter’s chaos, Meta executives have been considering ways to capitalize on the situation, including constructing a rival service. Their efforts have led to Threads, a project stemming from Instagram and known internally as Project 92. Users will be able to log into Threads using their Instagram accounts, as indicated by photo previews in the Apple App Store.
Meta executives have previously characterized Threads as a more disciplined alternative to a public-facing social network, subtly contrasting it with Musk’s unpredictable behavior.
While Mr. Musk and Twitter have yet to respond to these developments, Threads has garnered attention online. Jack Dorsey, one of Twitter’s founders, tweeted a screenshot of the app’s data policy, to which Mr. Musk responded positively. Meta’s spokeswoman has not provided any comments at this time.
Meta faces its own challenges, as it redirects its focus towards the metaverse, a nascent digital realm. This shift has been met with skepticism, given the metaverse’s limited adoption. Moreover, Meta has cut costs and confronted concerns about falling behind in the artificial intelligence race. However, as the most credible competitor to Twitter, with a vast audience across Facebook’s platforms, Meta still poses a significant threat. Smaller platforms like Tumblr, Nostr, Spill, Mastodon, and Bluesky aim to capitalize on Twitter’s weaknesses but are considerably less influential.
Facebook and Twitter have been in constant competition to capture real-time conversations online. In the early days of Twitter, Mr. Zuckerberg attempted to acquire the company but was rejected. Before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Facebook also sought to feature live products and trending topics in political events and on TV.
Mr. Zuckerberg has since focused on livestreaming video, a domain pursued by Twitter, as well as trending hashtags to let users explore viral topics on Facebook and Instagram.
In an unexpected twist, Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Musk may face off in an entirely different arena: a mixed martial arts match. According to Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the two tech billionaires have privately expressed their willingness to fight each other, with discussions underway to organize the event.
Ultimately, Meta’s Threads and its extensive user base, coupled with Facebook’s influence, make it a formidable contender against Twitter, potentially achieving success at the expense of Twitter’s declining popularity.
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