Why has Zuckerberg created a Twitter analog called Threads?

Both large IT companies and ambitious startup programmers regularly try to create analogues of popular social networks. Usually such ventures fail (hello, OpenSocial, MySpace, Mastodon and others). But everything changes if you already have your own media empire and you are Mark Zuckerberg. So, hype around Threads proves it (over 50 million registrations at the very start is a promising claim).

When Meta wanted to gain some of the TikTok audience, they just added the Reels feature to Instagram, and people liked it. The wanted their own Telegram so they bought out WhatsApp. But how doyou get an audience that likes to share their thoughts through short text messages and discussions? This option was suitable neither for Facebook nor for Instagram. That's how Threads has appeared.

How to use the Threads app and how is it different from Twitter?

Registration is simple

• Download the app on your smartphone (the desktop version is still very limited);
• Use your Instagram account login information to sign up;
• If your region has restrictions on use of Meta products, use a VPN;
• If you want to register with SMS-Activate virtual numbers, purchase numbers for Instagram then.

Threads Registration Restrictions.

• You can't sign up for Threads without an Instagram account;
• As it works for Instagram, users must be 16 years old (18 in some countries).

Posting is easy as well. 

The format of post on Threads can include:

• Text containing up to 500 characters;
• Photos of any format; as a piece or as a gallery;
• Videos up to 5 minutes long;
• Links will not minimize the post in the feed.
• Possible reactions: likes, comments, retweets (rethreads?), forwarding.

Threads in different countries.

localization for many countries is done, application works with a VPN in case it is not available. There have been no official statements about sanctions yet. 

SMS-Activate

The advantages and special features of Threads compared to Twitter

Integration with Instagram.Instagram data and contacts are imported into your Threads account. Posts from one social network can be reposted to another.

Privacy.You can publish posts openly so that any user has access to them (Public Profile feature), or limit readers to the selected followers. Also, users can set a limit on mentions of their accounts in other posts and moderate responses.

Moderation.Radical statements are not allowed here. In general there are rather strict rules inherent to Meta. Moreover, ban of your Threads account will also result in banning of your Instagram.

Prospects of entering Fediverse.What is Fediverse and how is it related to the Threads app? It is a decentralized association of social networks without affiliation to a state or corporation, an echo of the dream of the free Internet. At the moment, the association includes 105 services, whose users can communicate with each other if they have an account of any of the Fediverse member platforms. Threads is planning to become part of that system.

Inclusivity.Features for visually impaired people have migrated from Instagram to Threads. Artificial intelligence will voice text from the screen and tell you what's in a picture.

Threads as a source of traffic: what are the advantages?

• It is possible to add not only information about your company/business, but also a link (optionally with UTM tag)  to your account;
• As long as there is no way to limit the display of posts, a lot of users will see you, whether they want to or not;
• You can add a link to each post, and it will not negatively affect the issuance (at least now);
• If you already have a promoted Instagram account, this will give you a starting audience on the new social network;
• Gallery feature: you can add multiple photos of products to each post;
• Low competition, rapidly growing audience. You will have time to take the place of a leader at the start.

Threads' influence on the social media market

To quickly attract a lot of people to a social network, you need big budgets, PR experts, and a big audience. Meta has it all. Besides, Threads chose the perfect moment to enter the market: after the purchase of Twitter by Ilon Musk, the platform is going through a rough patch. Moderation rules and content selection algorithms are changed regularly, users are being forced to pay for the Twitter Blue version, the number of scandals concerning dismissals and management’s point of view is growing. Considering these facts, one can conclude that the prospects for growing the user base and attracting new users are quite good for Threads.

You don't get it, it's different.

In fact, from the social point of view, Threads is very different from Twitter. Twitter is a tool for politicians, activists, ideologists, and in this it is still unrivaled. The new social network does not try to attract all of Twitter's 1.3 billion audience. It is targeted on users who are tired of toxic environments and offers them a friendlier and safer space for communication.

Musk vs. Zuckerberg: public comments on Threads and Twitter competition

Mark Zuckerberg openly talks about plans to gain more than a billion users in the near future, including those who Twitter has lost because of wrong policies. He calls it "friendly competition," but we know that when it comes to such profits and market sharing, it's more about threat than friendship.

Elon Musk, on the other hand, reproaches Instagram and Meta politics for "show-off happiness" and emphasizes the advantages of Twitter as an honest and free platform. Musk also publicly challenged Zuckerberg to an MMA fight. We all love that. For such cases we have a popular emoji with a red nose and a bright wig.

What can one say: a post in the format "Look how my hydrangea is blooming!" does look cute on Instagram and somehow defenseless on Twitter. People are different, and it's good if everyone has their own comfortable space to express themselves. Time will tell what users' request is higher at a particular moment in history.