The much-anticipated cage match between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk may never come to fruition, but the competition between their social media platforms is already intensifying. Last week, Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms Inc., made a significant move by launching Threads, an application explicitly created to directly challenge Twitter.
Threads bears a striking resemblance to Twitter in terms of its format, dynamics, and even its name. In case you didn’t know, “threads” on Twitter refer to a series of connected tweets posted by a user. When a user creates a thread, they compose multiple tweets that are linked together in a sequential manner. Each tweet in the thread builds upon the previous one, allowing users to share longer thoughts, tell a story, or engage in a more comprehensive conversation.
It comes as no surprise that Meta has been vocal about its intention to compete with Elon Musk’s latest acquisition. Mark Zuckerberg boldly states that Twitter simply hasn’t perfected it yet. So let’s take a deep dive into Thread’s similarities to Twitter, core features, advantages and disadvantages and whether you should join the platform or not (if you haven’t of course).
Similarities To Twitter
Has Mark Zuckerberg really been picking out Twitter’s window examining their features in order to incorporate them into Threads? Let us examine the key similarities between Threads and Twitter.
The Threads Name & Feature
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, threads on Twitter are a series of connected tweets posted by a user, usually on the same topic or narrative, allowing for longer and more coherent conversations or storytelling within the character limit of a single tweet. Each tweet in a thread is linked together, making it easier for users to follow and engage with the entire sequence.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads app seems to be largely inspired by Twitter threads, making it its core feature. Furthermore, the name “Threads” itself is directly borrowed from the corresponding feature on Twitter.
Like, comment, repost, share
Threads, much like Twitter, incorporates key forms of engagement like liking, commenting, reposting, and sharing. It’s not surprising considering these engagement features are prevalent on other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, the similarity in the icon designs used by these platforms cannot be overlooked.
Threads
The functionality of each button is also similar. For example, when you click the ? icon, just like on Twitter you are given an option to repost or quote:
Threads
Look & Feel
The Threads look and feel looks almost identical to Twitter even at the first glance
Threads:
Both app logos are centered at the top. The flow of the timeline is similar, with the username and profile picture presented in an identical manner. Additionally, the home, search, and notifications icons are positioned at the bottom of the apps and remain fixed as you scroll. For regular Twitter users, differentiation can be made by identifying the Twitter Spaces icon at the bottom, the floating plus icon for creating new tweets, and the impressions count under each post. Other than these aspects, it becomes difficult to distinguish the overall look and feel of the apps.
Good Things About Threads (For Now)
No Toxicity
Threads offers a refreshing contrast to Twitter, providing a safe haven to freely express thoughts and opinions without facing harsh judgment. Unlike Twitter, which harbors a toxic culture rife with cyberbullying, Threads stands apart by not displaying any cyberbullying tendencies. Numerous accounts on Twitter thrive solely on trolling others. Interestingly, in a recent response to Mark Cuban on Threads, Zuckerberg pledged to prioritise fostering a friendly environment on the platform. He simultaneously criticised Twitter for its toxic nature, emphasising the need for a more positive space.
Easy Signup
One of the main advantages of Threads is its seamless signup process. There’s no need to go through the hassle of providing an email address, selecting a password, or pondering over what to write in your bio. Instead, you can effortlessly import all your profile information from Instagram with just a few clicks. The signup process takes less than 2 minutes (no kidding), ensuring that you swiftly have a fully up-to-date Threads account. The only drawback is that having an existing Instagram account is a prerequisite for creating a Threads account.
No Ads
One of the main things that annoy people the most on social media is Ads. Ads can disrupt the user experience by interrupting the flow of content and appearing too frequently in the feed. Some ads may also feel intrusive or irrelevant to the user’s interests, leading to a negative perception. The repetitive nature of ads can also contribute to their annoyance, especially when they appear excessively. A lot of social media users sometimes find the targeting techniques used by advertisers invasive, as their personal information is often utilised to display tailored ads.
As things stand, Threads does not feature any ads within its feed. However, this absence of ads is likely temporary, as Meta will eventually need to monetise the app and enable advertisers to create ads that will be displayed in the feed.
Push Threads post to Instagram story
One of the most exciting features offered by Threads is the ability to push a post to an Instagram story. This feature has several benefits: it enhances engagement on Threads by expanding the visibility of your posts to your Instagram followers, and it also serves as an invitation for your Instagram followers who haven’t joined Threads to participate and engage with your content. Ultimately, this feature can greatly enhance your overall experience on both platforms.
The Threads post also looks very cool when displayed on Instagram:
Push Threads post to Twitter
Although it may appear as a playful jab at Elon Musk, it’s quite amusing that you can also push a Threads post to Twitter.
However, Musk wasn’t going to let Zuckerberg off the hook so easily, as the Threads post appears rather lackluster on Twitter. It’s simply a link with a thumbnail and fails to display the actual content of the Threads post (nice try Zuck).
Easy Access to Instagram
From the Threads app, at the click of a button you can access Instagram. While this may seem like a minor convenience, it actually offers an easy way to switch between the two apps seamlessly. It can get quite annoying having to switch between mobile tabs, or trying to locate an app looking through numerous app icons. The easy switch between Threads and Instagram provides some convenience.
You can also easily switch to Threads from Instagram.
Threads to Instagram switch:
Instagram to Threads switch:
Follow all Instagram people you follow
Upon joining Threads, you have the option to follow the same users you already follow on Instagram. As soon as they join Threads, they receive instant notifications notifying them of your follow, allowing them to easily follow you back if they choose to do so.
This is an instant way of transferring all your Instagram followers, saving you from starting anew. Rather than starting from scratch, you can instantly inherit all your Instagram followers on Threads. If you already boast a substantial number of followers on Instagram, you can anticipate rapid growth on Threads shortly after joining.
Areas of Improvement For Threads
Post/Account Reach
Currently, one of the most frustrating aspects of Threads is the difficulty in gaining visibility for your posts if you have a limited number of followers. You can expect some visibility for your posts when they receive engagement from users with a large number of followers, resulting in their appearance on the feeds of their followers. In comparison, Twitter provides numerous ways to expand your reach, where even users with a small follower count regularly witness their posts going viral. This builds on to the next point: Threads should prioritise developing strategies to enhance user reach, such as the inclusion of hashtags (which will be detailed in the next point) and incorporating relevant keywords related to ongoing trends.
Hashtags
This expands on the previous point of account reach. Across all social media platforms, the use of hashtags is the main way to get your post/account discovered. Threads does not have hashtag functionality. This makes it hard for accounts with low follower numbers to grow organically. This also defeats the purpose of making your account private, because no one will see it anyway. Threads definitely needs to enable a hashtags functionality.
Topics
Threads lacks the ability to personalise your feed, unlike Twitter. While Twitter’s feed customisation feature is not flawless either, occasionally displaying random posts, it still offers an option to show posts related to certain topics of your choice in the feed. This feature enhances your social media experience by granting you a certain level of control over the content you see in your feed.
Here’s an example of how topics are displayed on Twitter:
While Threads wasn’t intended to be a direct replica of Twitter, it would be beneficial to incorporate some form of feed filtering options. This would provide users with the flexibility to customise their content consumption and enhance their overall experience on the platform.
Trends
There is no way to see trending topics on Threads, likely due to the fact that trends are a distinctive feature of Twitter. Given the rumors of a potential lawsuit between Twitter and Meta, it’s understandable that Threads would want to steer clear of directly replicating this feature. However, there are creative approaches to incorporating trend-related functionality in a unique way.
One possible solution would be to merge the concept of trends with the existing topics feature on Threads. This could involve displaying trends specific to each topic, allowing users to select the topics they are interested in seeing trends for. The presentation and design of these trends can be distinct, ensuring that Threads doesn’t appear to be simply copying Twitter.
For instance, Threads could adopt a tiled layout similar to YouTube, but with the inclusion of images, horizontal scroll functionality, and other innovative elements. By exploring alternative ways to showcase trends, Threads can maintain its individuality while still providing users with engaging and dynamic trend-related content.
Direct Messaging
Threads does not have a direct messaging capability. The ability to send private messages to other users on a social media platform is very important. Direct messaging on social media plays a crucial role by enabling private and instant communication between users. It enables personal connections, the exchange of confidential information, and real-time conversations, thereby enhancing user engagement and strengthening relationships within the social media community. It would be highly beneficial for Threads to consider incorporating this feature into their platform.
Post Analytics
On Threads, there is no way to view post analytics, such as impressions and engagement rates. This feature would be valuable for users to gain insights into the performance of their posts and understand the reach and engagement they generate. Implementing post analytics on Threads would empower users with valuable data to inform their content strategies and enhance their overall experience on the platform.
Account Deletion
Finally, when you delete your Threads account you simultaneously delete your linked Instagram account. This seems illogical as these are separate accounts, although they are both owned by Meta. Users should have the ability to manage and delete their Threads account without affecting their Instagram account, as they may have different preferences and intentions for each platform. Providing the option to unlink or retain the Instagram account when deleting Threads (and vice versa) would offer users greater control and alignment with their individual needs.
So, should I join Threads?
The decision to join Threads depends on your specific goals and priorities. If your objective is brand awareness and running a comprehensive social media strategy, Threads may not be the ideal platform due to its limitations on account reach, absence of ad options, and lack of organic engagement analytics. However, if you are interested in exploring trends, staying relevant, reserving your username for future use, or simply experimenting with a new platform, Threads can be a suitable choice. While Threads currently appears to be relatively bug-free, it is still a work in progress, with Meta expected to introduce additional features in the future. Hopefully, our suggested areas of improvement or any other unique features they may have in mind can be implemented to enhance the platform further.
Feature Breakdown:
