After 30 million sign-ups, could Meta’s Threads be Twitter killer?

Meta launched its brand new app; Threads and reaped 30 million sign-ups as of Thursday morning. The app is available in 100 countries and over 30 languages via Apple’s iOS and Android. Threads is the latest platform launched in recent months to unseat Twitter as the go-to app for real-time, public conversations. Meta has at least one significant leg up on Twitter: the size of its existing user base. The company is hoping to capture at least some of its more than 2 billion global active Instagram users with the new app.

With a stream of mostly text messages, Threads resembles Twitter a lot. Users can also post photographs and videos, where they can engage in real-time dialogues. Users of the app can react to, repost, and quote other people’s Threads postings, although there is a 500 character limit.

Users can temporarily deactivate their accounts using the app’s settings section, but the company’s privacy statement states that “your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account.” The amount of information that the Threads, like Instagram, can gather on users, including location, contacts, search history, browser history, contact information, and more, has also caused some users to express worry.

Meta’s Threads app offers a unique advantage over competitors like Twitter, as it simplifies the process of signing up for users. However, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri emphasized the importance of long-term engagement on new social media platforms, such as preventing spam, harassment, conspiracy theories, and false claims on the platform. This has caused users to sour on Twitter.

Threads could also supplement Meta’s core advertising business, which could benefit from a decline in the online ad market and changes to Apple’s app privacy practices. For Zuckerberg, the real draw may be in attempting to outdo his rival, Musk, with whom he has been planning a cage fight. Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino acknowledged the launch of the rival app, calling it “irreplaceable.”

Meta laid off over 20,000 workers starting last November, including user experience, well-being, policy, and risk analytics employees. The launch comes as campaign season for the 2024 US Presidential election ramps up, with some experts warning of an incoming wave of misinformation. Meta says its Community Guidelines will apply to Threads, just like its other apps.

Threads could supplement Meta’s core advertising business, which could benefit from a decline in the online ad market and changes to Apple’s app privacy practices. However, if Twitter’s history is any guide, the format is unlikely to attract as many ad dollars as Meta’s other platforms.