Meta has just declared war on social media by launching a new app called Threads. This is the most exciting fascinating, and terrifying thing happening on social media! Do I think threads have a chance of becoming mainstream??
The excitement level on this new app, is unlike anything we have seen before but why?
Because it’s in the right place at the right time. Ever since Elon Musk took over, everyone has been complaining about the changes on Twitter. For instance, the ads, there are so many bots accounts and inappropriate accounts parading around without being flagged! Twitter now charges people to be verified. This will result in everyone having fake ‘Elon Musk’ accounts that will be verified. Now almost everyone and their cats are verified now, at this point what does it even mean to be verified?
They have just limited the number of tweets you can view a day unless you pay. This doesn’t feel like a homely platform. And so, Threads is the opposite of that. And to capitalize on this resentment that a lot of people have with Twitter.
Meta has promised zero ads and they do not even think of monetization until they get to a billion users. That’s crazy because if they get to a billion users that will be two times more than Twitter!
And Threads?
They will be spoiling us because you would need an Instagram account to log into Threads. This reduces the number of bots. (fake accounts) Plus, Threads links to your Instagram account you don’t have to pay for verification. If you have been verified already it carries your verification badge to Threads. And the best thing about it, is that so do your followers, they come with you to Threads!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Threads is a God-given app for mankind. It’s missing key features that you really need for an app like this, like trending topics for example. The thing that makes Twitter different from other platforms is that it’s “news first“. When you log in there, besides arguing with people on the internet. You also learn what is happening around the world and what people think about it. Twitter(X) grounded with real-world events as opposed to Instagram. That’s what Instagram used to be. But now it has turned into TikTok V 0.5(version point five, a broke down version!) So if anyone can do it, then it’s Meta, in other words, Twitter has met her match!
Honesty?
They are still very open about the fact that this app is still on version one. They wanted to launch a simple but stable app. Then one by one adding more features besides this app is exactly like Twitter. There is zero doubt that the person who designed Thread studied Twitter carefully. Making Threads exactly like it but with some designer elements of Instagram. It’s has great name, a thread is a string of messages, and it’s fitting. Threads has got the fundamentals right. It’s easy on the eyes as it seems to run well and be smooth with no bugs. It is also not offensive which is more than you could say for Twitter right now.
So, could threads kill Twitter?
Very possible, yes. Twitter is approaching 500 million users while Instagram has 2.38 billion users. With Threads being a direct copy of Instagram, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a higher ceiling, I mean Facebook killed Myspace, and Instagram killed Snapchat, just basically after copying their features and doing much better.
Instagram today is not what it used to be like. It used to be a genuine app to keep up with friends through pictures but instantly following where the money is, it’s now yet another glorified video app! When I look at my feed, I no longer see my friends but it’s an algorithm that’s designed to serve you purposeless videos in such a way that you cannot look away and eventually lose track of time.
Then you go to Facebook, Meta’s other main social media app. It’s far worse, you can’t scroll past two apps without seeing ads. Then you get a suggestion for you which is nothing related to you. There’s a permanent sponsor tab on the side, which is filled with targeted ads, tons of inappropriate content, and a really bad system for reporting it where nothing ever seems to get acted on.
The Dark Side?
It’s alarming because this is essentially what Meta vision as a successful product, and don’t get me started on the way they handle data. Meta’s entire business model is making money from profiling their users and tracking their activity to then sell their eyeballs to advertisers. Meta has a record of using people’s data in dodgy ways and yet they’re asking for all of it here, when you sign up to Threads look at all the stuff you must agree to, there is a reason why Threads is not up, and running in the European Union.
No turning Back
If you sign up for Threads there is no way of not agreeing to every bit of this data sharing and there’s also a weird clause that says you can’t close your thread app after opening it unless you also close your Instagram account, who’s going to do that?
If this app does beat Twitter How powerful will Meta become as a company? “Let’s get users first then start implementing the money-making,” says the CEO. It’s funny how people have hated the idea of the ‘Metaverse’ and how this Meta company would just own people. That is only if threads actually kills Twitter, and Meta as this captain of social media. It’s very their step one of that but at the same time. I do believe that people deserve second chances while our past actions are a generally pretty good indicator of intent.
I’m willing to be proven otherwise. It is possible that Meta sees this not as a way to repeat but as a way to correct their mistakes. Besides in the end it is the users who make these platforms what they are. So as Afrluencer Magazine, we decided that we want to use this as a positive force. Then that might automatically make it a better place to be. Help us to do that by following our thread account: Afrluencer
What’s your opinion on this? Is Meta about to take over? Please do comment down below.
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