Zuckerberg vs Musk: Threads vs Twitter

Recently, Twitter has implemented view limits that have caused frustration among some creators. Although many have not been significantly impacted, there are individuals who exceed the newly set limits established by Elon Musk.

Just as the memes have been rolling in, so did Meta with its new app. Threads.

Mark Zuckerberg quietly released Meta’s new app on Wednesday, July 5. The last firework in the air, blowing up with over 2 million signups in the first two hours!

I've been on Twitter for some time now and I've noticed that users on the platform aren't fond of new platforms that just copy what Twitter already offers. After all, Twitter is a highly popular platform with around 440 million active users every month. That's almost half a billion people!

Nearly half a Billion!

But even with those numbers, Twitter still ranks far behind Meta.

Threads is a promising new platform that has the potential to challenge Twitter's status as the go-to social media platform. Despite being only one day old, Threads shows great potential to knock Twitter down a rank.

Let’s compare the two platforms and see what kind of contender Threads is going to be,

Monthly Active Users on IG and Twitter

The number of users is the most crucial aspect of any platform. Without traffic, your platform won't get the time of day. Remember Google+?

Currently, the number of known users on Threads stands at 2 million on opening day. Also, the app has not been released to everyone yet. To obtain a Threads account, you must have an Instagram account.

What we can compare is the number of users Meta has on its current platforms and contrast it with Twitter.

Here’s a screenshot from an article on Buffer (a social media scheduling app).

I have to point out first that the number for Twitter was incorrectly inputted. I did further research and the reoccurring number for Twitter MAU sits at 440 million. Everything else matched.

What we want to look at is the top 5, and where Twitter sits on the list of other competitors.

Meta dominates the top with three of its social platforms: Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. YouTube comes in second among the three. Meta has been in the game for a long time with Facebook, and has repeated its success with its other two apps, WhatsApp and IG.

Twitter, on the other hand, is sitting at number 14 in the global social platform rankings. If you apply its approx 440 million MAU, then it sits between Pinterest and Reddit.

Here’s a link to the article by Buffer 21 Top Social Media Sites to Consider for Your Brand in 2023

Here’s another Blog post by Semrush that was posted late last year with similar numbers Top Social Media Platforms in 2022

If we want to compare stats between Twitter and Threads, we can substitute Threads with Meta as it is the parent company.

If Instagram (the smallest MAU of the three apps) has roughly 2 billion monthly active users, and Threads is basically tied to Instagram, then it is safe to say that a large portion of those users will be transitioning over to Threads. If we say one-fifth of the user base transitions over, roughly 400 million users, then that would already put it just barely behind Twitter’s user base.

The key to Threads finding success is for Meta to promote this app to its current user base. While there will undoubtedly be plenty of Twitter users playing with the new Threads app, I doubt many will adopt it early on until it gains better traction.

Twitter is facing a challenge with the recent issues it has been dealing with. This has led content creators to explore other platforms to diversify their content and not rely solely on Twitter.

Comparing the potential of Threads to Twitter gives Threads an obvious uphill battle. Dethroning Twitter won’t come easy. As it stands, Twitter takes this round.

Comparison between Threads and Twitter

Threads is not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Once you have set up your account, which is seamless if you already have an Instagram account, the interface feels familiar. It offers a text-based feed where you can also add images or videos to your post. The look is not much different.

It all feels the same as Twitter.

You can like, comment, repost and share.

The share option looks minimal and easy to use

When you compare the two, there isn’t much difference. The style is nearly the same.

The difference comes when you look at the number of extra features that Twitter has. Twitter has Spaces where users can jump into a channel like a podcast and carry conversations or just listen in.

There’s the new communities section, where you can request to join specific communities or create your own, much like Facebook Groups.

Then there’s the search bar, where you can find all the trending tweets and choose between topics you follow. You can also use hashtags to help you find relevant tweets.

Threads doesn’t have any of those features yet. Threads keeps it simple and straightforward with writing and sharing threads.

Twitter is the far more experienced player in this game and easily takes this round. But I can’t imagine it will hold the top contention for this too long since Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram already have many of those features on their own platforms.

It would be too easy for Meta to simply apply or connect the missing features to its arsenal of apps at hand.

What’s the Possible Outcome for Threads?

Threads is a new social media platform that has strong backing from three established champions in the field. It's like having Tyson, Ali, and Mayweather all in your corner. In contrast, Twitter is a single app owned by a billionaire who has interests in multiple industries.

From spaceships and electric vehicles to an energy company and the Boring Company, Elon Musk's influence spans various industries. He is an incredible individual who has achieved immense success, and his potential seems limitless. However, one thing is clear: Meta has an unmatched talent for dominating social media.

The likely possible outcome here is that Threads finds quick and early success. With over 2 billion users, so many will likely transition over to Threads.

Especially since Twitter is limiting creators with the last few updates to the app. Things like

1. Limited views

2. Soft shadowbans

3. Stopped allowing promotions of other social media on Twitter

4. Twitter started throttling Substack and did not return any searches for Substack

5. Twitter Stopped paying it’s Google Cloud services, and Google has now dropped lots of its Twitter search results.

Here’s a detailed Tweet with the link to the article.

Conclusion

Twitter has gotten itself into a big mess. They are the dominant contender here, but it keeps making one bad move after another. Most of these are causing creators problems and forcing their own users to spread their content to other platforms.

Threads is taking advantage of Twitter’s questionable moves as of late. With all the new updates that reduce impressions and searchability, Musk is leaving himself exposed to a power punch From Zuckerberg.

Threads is catching Twitter on its heels, but taking down Twitter or Musk will not come easy.

What are your thoughts on the new app by Meta?