Initial Thoughts on Instagram’s Threads: Twitter is in Trouble

Threads may soon dominate Twitter.

Instagram and Meta dropped their text-based app, Threads, a little earlier than their initial July 6 release date. In less than a day, it has already dealt a massive blow to Elon Musk’s Twitter, with numerous users already flocking to the new shiny toy on social media.

In fact, Mark Zuckerberg posted that Threads got 10 million sign-ups in only seven hours. Absolutely monster numbers!

There’s no doubt that Musk’s changes to Twitter—paying for blue check marks and daily rate limits—have pushed people to join Threads. But is it enough to make people stay?

In This Article:

What I like (and Dislike) about Threads

After spending 3-4 hours on Threads, it was fun to use. While it’s not perfect, there are many things that I like and a couple that need some work.

What I like: See posts from people you don’t follow.

Right off the bat, you notice that your feed is filled with threads from people you don’t follow. It’s pretty refreshing to see. The fact that we do get to see so much content from other people shows that there’s a great opportunity for organic reach. This is exciting, especially if you want to increase brand awareness and build communities.

What I don’t like: See posts from people you don’t follow.

Organic reach is cool and all. But as a personal experience, it may be a nuisance. You will see content from accounts and niches you don’t like. Eventually, you’d prefer only seeing posts that align with your interests. Surely, Threads will fine-tune its algorithm to deliver tailored content.

What I like: Bigger character limits.

As I was making my own threads, I was surprised to see how much I could write. That’s because the character limit on the platform is 500 characters, nearly double that of Twitter’s. So you could write whole song lyrics if you wanted to.

What I don’t like: No switching accounts feature.

Okay, to be fair, you can switch accounts. It just takes an extra step to get there. First, you have to log out. Then on the sign-in page, there’s an option to switch accounts. Choose the desired account, and done! While the process is still quick and easy, it’d be more convenient for Threads to have a switch accounts feature.

What I like: Easy set-up.

It takes 30 seconds or less to set up a Threads account. All you need is an Instagram account, and you’re good to go. Plus, your followers and followings on Instagram will carry over into Threads, so you don’t have to start from a blank slate.

What I don’t like: No real search engine.

Thread’s weakness is the same as Instagram: its search engine (or lack thereof). On Twitter, you could type a keyword, and it will show content and users related to your query. But on Threads, the search engine is only optimized to search for accounts. This is something I’m sure they’ll work on moving forward.

Threads is still a baby and has noticeable flaws. But given that it launched reasonably soon, I’m looking forward to how the app will develop and evolve. So far, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

What this means for Twitter and Co.

Twitter won’t die. It isn’t going away anytime soon. They’ve built a strong empire for themselves since their inception in 2006.

But other competitors such as Bluesky, Mastodon, Hive, and Spill…well, can’t necessarily say the same. Mastodon and Hive have been around for seven and four years, respectively, and Threads already has more users than both of them – combined.

Bluesky and Spill are still in beta testing. Users can only sign-up via an invite link. I signed up to be on the wait list for Spill a couple of days ago. Still waiting for that invite. Bummer. I was really interested in trying it after Twitter imposed the rate limits. But with Threads available, I feel less desire to be on Spill.

This may be the same sentiment echoed by many people still waiting for their Bluesky and Spill invites. Both platforms missed the chance to cash in on Twitter’s chaos by luring more users to their networks.

Now for Twitter.

The State of Twitter

They’re still holding strong, even though it hasn’t been the smoothest ride since Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022.

Under Musk’s ownership, the company has made several drastic changes, such as:

• Removing verified blue check marks and hiding them behind a paywall

• Laying off 80% of their workforce

• Adding “Community Notes” as a form of content moderation

• Implementing rate limits—capping how many tweets users can read per day

There’s no doubt that these changes are part of why Threads has succeeded. Musk’s aggressive implementations have pushed its users away from the app in search of an alternative.

Before Threads, no other app could live up to the reputation of Twitter. But Instagram’s competitor app proves it is a viable option for those looking for an alternative – putting Musk’s company in big trouble.

Right now, the excitement around Threads is due to its newness. It’s the new shiny object that everyone wants to get their hands on. So we’ll see in due time how big Threads will be.

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