Threads! A Maybe-Not-Too-Early Take On Zuckerberg's New Disruption
Ahhhh where to start with Threads? In case you were asleep or hiking deep in a National Park somewhere (sorry for the shameless link) for the last 24 hours, Meta/Facebook/Instagram launched their new TWITTERKILLER called “Threads” and last I saw there were already 30 million users signed up (there’s probably 60 million by now, and 62 million by now, and…). I ended up eating a small bowl of cereal around 10:30 last night. I didn’t realize dinner had come and gone while I was…..threading?
So I have thoughts.
For starters it’s impossible to discuss Threads without talking a little about Twitter, which is a bit of a….mess. Twitter has always been vulnerable - not just since Elon Musk took over either, but he’s weakened it considerably and I think he’ll be rightfully remembered at the very least as the catalyst for its demise. I can’t guarantee that it will actually die but it doesn’t look good.
And Mark Zuckerberg along with Adam Mosseri (who has had his share of gaffes as the head of Instagram) are still shrewd as can be, and they’ve been at this social media game that moves at lightning speed for a long long time (Musk hasn’t). They saw their opportunity and they pounced. Let me start to explain what I mean with two posts by my buddy Jeff Dwoskin who knows a thing or two about Twitter and Instagram having founded Hashtag Roundup which dominated the Twitter feed for years and Stampede Social which is an Instagram app:
He posted this on Threads:
And he posted this on LinkedIn:
Jeff’s comments are in reference to a couple days earlier when Twitter’s Child Executive Officer Musk throttled the twitter feed for non-paying users without explanation, then kinda pulled back on the throttling, then kinda explained in a nonsensical way why they throttled, then tried to sarcastically justify his nonsense, then…. well, you can Google what happened. Actually I just Googled what happened and the first article that came up was this brilliant one that sums it all up in this article by Chas Danner in NYMag.com wickedly entitled ELON MUSK TRIES FORCING TWITTER USERS TO USE LESS TWITTER under the “Fiascos” category.
He basically forced his users right off of his own platform into the waiting arms of Threads.
Keep in mind that Threads is NOT a finished product by a long shot. It’s bare bones - barely usable in a very effective fashion with no hashtags and about 10 other basic features you would expect and yet there was an unbelievable energy there last night. EVERYONE was there posting from the University of Michigan to Mr. Beast (who already has a mind blowing 1.7 MILLION FOLLOWERS) to Gronk. Would you normally rush out a drastically unfinished product unless you knew your prey was seriously wounded and ready for the kill?
I can’t remember exactly the day and time I heard about Threads, but I know I went to check it out yesterday morning (the 5th) at 10:14 AM when I took this screenshot:
I can’t remember seeing an “expected” date like that for an app. Okay fine… but that was supposed to be today - the 6th. By yesterday evening (still the 5th) it was LIVE. Do you think this was coincidence? I mean sure there have been plenty of screw ups over at Twitter since Musk started tinkering at the controls like a toddler with a new toy but this latest fiasco was pretty big news and it sure seems like the Meta boys rushed this out to take advantage doesn’t it???
So I jumped on - I was an EARLY ADOPTER being only the 781,768th user!
Threads were flying last night - it was a blast. This feels big. Not everything Zuck touches turns to gold - not even on Instagram itself (remember IGTV, not to mention the backlash that I called the “Mosseri Massacre” when they tinkered too much with the algorithm exactly one year ago and upset everyone to the point they had to walk it back). But they have had successes that have diversified their portfolio and allowed them to make money that Twitter has NOT had. Obviously Instagram was a massively successful acquisition and they also own WhatsApp. What about Twitter? They acquired two fantastic apps that they ran right into the ground in Vine and Periscope. Their portfolio…well it really isn’t even a portfolio, and they have always struggled to make money. They are in trouble and Elon Musk has largely been a disaster at the helm. Let’s let social media guru whom I’ve followed for many years Jay Baer put it another way…
Here’s another I thought was pretty good - I don’t even know Jesse Engle so I hope I don’t regret this lol:
Pay attention to that last line. Elon Musk has been fond of trolling and gloating over his own user base about things that genuinely had people upset for good reason, such as taking away actual verification for Twitter profiles (flawed as it may have been) by making people (any random people mind you) pay for their blue check marks. If anyone could BUY a verification for 10 bucks then that means no one is actually verified. That’s just one of many off the top of my head.
So what’s next? Well let’s hear from Adam Mosseri himself:
A race to the starting line…. exciting indeed. And Zuck started smiling at 5 million users - I doubt he’s stopped.
****P.S. That was supposed to be the clever finish to my post. As I’m about to hit the publish button I’m hearing from the aforementioned Jeff Dwoskin that Elon Musk is suing…. lol.
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can also connect with Doug on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, and/or M10 Social on Twitter or Facebook, and check out his other biz www.VirtualPetcations.com while you’re at it!
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