Is Meta's Threads A Potential Competition To Twitter?

The newest player in the social media world, Meta’s Thread has already started to make noise as it emerges to be a potential competitor to an established platform like Twitter. With a remarkable 10 million downloads within seven hours and over 30 million downloads in less than 20 hours of its launch, Meta’s Thread had already begun gazing eyes of people all over the globe. 

Commenting on the app’s downloads, Siddharth Devnani, Co-Founder & Director, SoCheers commented, “The introduction of Meta’s Threads, the sheer interest in the app has led to a significant increase in user engagement, soon after the launch. In my opinion, the impressions on Day 1 seem promising, largely due to the enthusiastic participation of ardent Meta and Instagram users. Nevertheless, the long-term success of this new platform will ultimately depend on the community's ability to sustain its engagement and reach across the masses.”

This new social media platform, Threads, is developed by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and aims to provide its users an exquisite and immersive experience by introducing enhanced features and functionality. As social media rivalry intensifies, Meta's Thread is geared up to disrupt the market and redefine the way people connect and interact online.  

On the intensity of social media rivalry, Shubham Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO, Dot Media said, “As an avid social media user, I strongly feel that Threads from Meta is addressing the frustrations many of us have had with recent changes on Twitter. It offers an exciting alternative by combining the best features of Instagram with Twitter's familiar format. With Instagram's massive user base, Threads has the potential to quickly gain traction and attract a significant number of users. The seamless sharing of posts between Threads and Instagram expands the reach of conversations, offering a more interconnected social media experience. However, only time will tell if it can truly make a dent in Twitter's dominance.”

In comparison to Twitter, the recently launched Meta's Thread is offering a more immersive experience, emphasising visual components and providing users with tools to create and share rich multimedia content such as images, films, and augmented reality (AR) experiences as well as cross-platform integration with Facebook and Instagram. On the other hand, Twitter focuses on short text-based messages called tweets and concentrates on real-time updates. However, in the recent past, Twitter had expanded its support to images and videos.

On the comparison, Hitarth Dadia, CMO and Partner, Nofiltr. Group commented, “Competition is ultimately beneficial because it leads to the delivery of the best possible versions of platforms for the audience. These two platforms, Twitter and Threads, are openly battling in the metaphorical colosseum. In my opinion, Twitter isn't currently losing its existing user base; rather, Threads are attracting new users. Unless Threads continues to introduce new features and successfully address issues such as ads, bots, and misinformation, the situation may change. As of now, Threads is gaining traction, but Twitter isn't experiencing significant user loss. People are not deactivating their Twitter accounts; they are still actively engaging with the platform. This is an essential consideration to keep in mind.”

On the other hand, Bhavik Mehta, Founder, Thinkin' Birds Communications commented, “Meta could have an upper hand here as the user base it has secured for itself is almost 4 times that of Twitter’s. And leveraging the same, Threads may take the cookie and leave no crumbs behind. The seamless transition from Instagram to Threads and vice-versa is meticulously thought through. Threads may be a ‘copy-paste version’ of Twitter but Meta has honed the skill of replicating features from rival apps in the past and popularising them. Let’s see what the whimsical CEO of Twitter brings to the table now.”

Nonetheless, Meta’s Thread can play a part in being a potential threat to Twitter’s user base and market position. On one hand, Twitter has an established user base, particularly among celebrities, influencers, and public figures which gives the platform a strong presence in the social media landscape. However, Meta’s Thread identifies itself under the umbrella of the brand Meta and provides a smooth cross-platform experience with Facebook and Instagram, luring users for a more holistic social networking experience.

Addressing the user base and market position of both platforms, Sabyasachi Guha Raja, Vice President – Market Research, SG Analytics stated, “Twitter has made a lot of modifications in user choices/view possibilities and otherwise since Elon Musk took over – the events post that seems more a disbalancing act rather than the paradigm shift I would have envisaged. In the very manner, Threads is construed and is expected to have a latent ‘holistic’ application with their IG followers and the possibility of connected messaging. With the same user handles, I would assume the line of distinction would get minimised or diluted.” He further added, “In terms of competition, market share, and user base, Threads has a clear upside on gaining the subscriber base (evidence with more than 4 Million subscribers in less than 4 hours) but that’s more to do with the integration with Instagram. I would imagine that there would certainly be a dent in Twitter’s users, however, Threads needs to iron out the regulatory restrictions. For instance, Thread is not available in EU. For real-time news to flow seamlessly, Twitter would still rule but as is the case with a new competition product, a number of defectors to Threads is expected.” 

The launch of Threads into the market could compel Twitter to transform and deliver new features and functionalities to retain its user base. However, both platforms will certainly emphasise on protecting user privacy, addressing moderated content difficulties, and catering to changing user expectations.