Do you know the most lucrative sure-shot business model? It is building your business with more user-centric services….the only catch is it should be someone else’s idea.
The board members of a podcasting company, Odeo, wanted a groundbreaking idea to revolutionize social media. After brainstorming for an entire day, an enthusiastic and imaginative undergrad from New York University put forth something quite peculiar.
A young Jack Dorsey proposed an SMS-type service used by an individual to communicate their thoughts with a group of people.
After developing the idea further, the platform was called Twitter, where people could share their thoughts in a limited character frame. Jack Dorsey explains the inception of Twitter–
“We came across the word “Twitter,” and it was just perfect. The definition was “a short burst of inconsequential information,” and “chirps from birds.” And that’s exactly what the product was.”
And the rest was history– millions of people, countless thoughts, infinite responses, appreciating & berating opinions, intense digital wars, accessories to actual wars, political locus, and lastly, being acquired by the biggest tech mogul, Elon Musk.
After Elon Musk bought Twitter, he redefined the concept as the only social media platform that advocates “FreeSpeech.” Twitter has now become more unhinged when sharing opinions masked as facts.
But now, there’s another contender in the social market.
What Does Instagram Thread Mean?
A few months ago, Zuckerberg announced a new medium to channel your thoughts and share them with the world. It will be called Twitt… Sorry…. “Threads,” which will be partially based on Instagram.
And now, on July 5, Meta launched the Threads app, available in 100 countries so far. Here are the key highlights:
- The social media platform allows you to express “what’s on your mind” in 500 characters, almost double the limit of Twitter’s 280 characters.
- You can post links, 10 photos, and up to 5-minute videos. Currently, Twitter only allows up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds of video length for unverified users.
- If you are verified on Instagram, you will automatically be verified on the Threads app as well. No extra charges are required to be verified.
- To open a Threads account, you must have an Instagram account first. You can import your bio information and existing followers from your Instagram profile.
- You cannot directly delete the Threads account; your Instagram account will also be deleted.
- All the community guidelines incorporated on Instagram will also apply to Threads posts.
- Threads is launched without any ads to entice an influx of users. However, being a Meta product, the ads market will eventually envelop this platform as well.
- The interface looks like a typical Instagram comments section. But you can repost and like the original Thread, just like Twitter.
- To start your Threas, you must hit enter three times.
- Reportedly, Threads has no “save post as draft” option. Twitter allows you to save a draft and post it later as per convenience.
Why Is Twitter Suing Threads?
Let’s just say Mark Zuckerberg has declared war! Meta has publicized this launch as a “Twitter-Killer” platform. Twitter has decided to sue Meta for stealing the core idea– to put into proper legal terms, “violating Twitter’s intellectual property rights.”
One of Twitter’s lawyers, Alex Spiro, drafted an official letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, stating that Twitter “has serious concerns that Meta Platforms (Meta) has engaged in systematic, willful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.”
Well, just saying!
Elon Musk had also previously expressed his strife over Zuckerberg’s announcement. This might just be a speculation, but most think this was the start of the feud between Musk and Mark.
How Many Users Does Twitter Have?
Twitter has been operating since 2006. The social media platform experiences a gradual trajectory in users and subsequently establishes credibility. It is safe to say that news, politics, society, democracy, careers, celebrities, and many more aspects of the current lexicon are validated if posted on Twitter.
And now, Twitter is the moment! The platform boasts 353.9 million total annual users in 2023, with around 330 million monthly active users. Twitter has shown phenomenal growth in users between 2019-2022, with an increase of 17.8%. The year 2022 recorded a peak of 368.40 million users. However, after the buyout and restructuring of Twitter headquarters, the platform lost 3.9% of users in 2023.
There were also specific changes issued by Musk that stated that a user would be charged $8 per month for the blue tick (verification). Only if your profile is verified can you extend your character limit to 10000.
Such changes have also led users to not consider Twitter as suitable anymore. But these are just estimations; let us see if Twitter can sustain the competition.
How Many Users Does Threads Have?
Threads has successfully applied the FOMO tactic for a floodgate of users. As per the latest update, the Threads app has reached over 55 million users in just a couple of days.
The reason for this influx is that the platform is built on the solid foundation of Instagram. According to Connor Hayes, vice president at Meta, Threads’s most crucial plus point is that it is developed on the same ActivityPub social-networking protocol as Mastodon and other decentralized social media apps. Simply put– people who amassed a following on Threads will eventually use the platform to engage with a broader community beyond Instagram.
Some users have also noted that the quality of video or other graphic media posted is far better than Twitter.
But some users also feel that Threads is a diluted version of Twitter where the freedom to post content is unmatchable.
While the two mediums are at war, let’s just say we, as users, have gained some and lost much out of more social media platforms.
What are your thoughts on the new Threads? Do you think Twitter is right to sue Meta? Did you like Threads? Let us know in the comments section below.
