Like in Marvel’s 'Doctor Strange' movie, everyone is a superhero in Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse, traversing between multiple dimensions – Facebook, Instagram, and now, Threads. Unless you have been living under a rock for a while, there is no way that you could’ve missed the Metaverse of madness.
The newest addition to Meta – Threads – whose logo resembles a bird’s nest, seems intended to put Twitter’s little birdie to rest. Indeed, within hours of launch, the platform has managed to generate a lot of noise, signing up millions of users.
On the other hand, one can almost hear Elon Musk say – in the voice of Dwight from The Office -- ‘Identity theft is not a joke, Jim.’
Is Zuck in the mood to listen? We don’t know but a legal notice is sure to find its way to the Facebook founder.
So, what do users say?
No matter what happens in the courts, the ultimate success of an app depends on what the users think about, and to find out, TNIE spoke to several active social media users and an expert.
Most seemed to be taking a wait-and-watch approach, but there are also the occasional Zuck ‘believers’ who feel the Blue Bird’s fate is sealed, and that total social media domination is only a matter of time for Meta.
“Haha, no, I'm not going there,” quips Sudharshan Hari, an entrepreneur who ‘invests’ considerable time on social media. Once a fan of Twitter for its reach and distribution of news, he now wants to stay away from Threads. “I am not happy at all with Twitter but I don't want to support Meta. So, I'm not joining the app. Open-source platforms like Mastodon and some open-source decentralised systems will be my way to go,” he says, also flagging concerns over the only-deactivation option of Threads (we will talk more about it later.)
App developer Vijay Anand, however, made a clever choice that way. He wanted to explore the new app but he did that by creating a new account instead of connecting via his existing Instagram account. There were a few hiccups, however. His newly-created account was suspended by Meta briefly. “I wanted to create a new account in Threads because if I connect my current Insta account, I can’t be anonymous. I signed up with a mail ID and it got suspended,” he says. With the appeal option, he quickly regained his access. “But luckily, I didn't use my current Insta account because to delete a Threads account, I should delete the Insta account first,” he adds.
“The feel and style look more like Instagram. Twitter feed design looks neat. Besides, the app will gain popularity because of FOMO (Fear OF Missing Out), which seems to be working for them already as we see many sharing their Threads profile on their Insta story,” says the user, who feels that the platform should’ve restrained people from uploading media in the initial days by making it a text-only medium.
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Kochi-based journalist Rajesh Abraham, who spends a good chunk of his day on Twitter, says the initial feel is good. “I was not happy with the way Twitter turned out after the Musk takeover. So much toxic and adult content was coming in the feed. Despite repeated alerts, Twitter did nothing. Post-Musk, I felt Twitter was going downhill and I was looking for an alternative. I'm testing waters with Threads. It is early days,” he says, adding both Musk and Zuckerberg are, in the end, the same.
In terms of initial feedback, he says that he’s noticed the lack of hashtags. “I'm seeing so many threads that I don't follow. But no reason to get offended yet as I would like to know who to follow, and who not to,” he adds. He feels it is too early to comment on finding news leads on the platform, which is one of Twitter’s major attractions. “We need to wait for a couple of weeks to know that.”
Another in the ‘wait-and-watch’ boat is Amrutha Kuber, a social media user who ditched WhatsApp for Signal App over the furore caused by its new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in 2021. She’s one of the few who never looked back after that decision. Although she may not seem like the ideal candidate for testing yet another offering from Meta, she seems intrigued enough to dip her toes for now. “I’m actually interested in exploring it, I’d like to see Zuckerberg’s take on Twitter."
“So far, it looks like Threads collects the usual data that Facebook and Instagram collect, especially for its ad purposes and that’s become quite the norm with most apps that we use. I will minimise the amount of data Threads will use but, if I’m not able to, I might not use the app,” the social media user says. “I quit WhatsApp as it forced me to accept its new privacy changes so the same goes if any other app does it too,” she adds, reiterating her concerns over privacy.
On this sensitive topic, user opinion seems divided. For example, some like Sorav Jain, a digital media consultant and influencer, feel that since Meta already collects extensive data about its users through its other apps, the addition of Threads to the phone will not make much of a difference to user privacy.
“The thing that you talk about is heard and an ad is shown to you. What privacy are we talking about at this point as long as you've given the rights to Instagram, the same applies to this platform.”
The Instagram coach is among those who see a bright future for the new service. “The fact is, yes, it will replace Twitter, which becomes boring after some point of time. Celebrities hang out more on Instagram. Secondly, Twitter has trending topics, and hashtags, which even this platform will copy very soon.”
Key to Threads’ success, he feels, lies in its ties to Instagram. “The influencers of the world are more active on Insta, not on Twitter. If they start to use Threads, their fans, and followers will be here. Every platform needs people. The platform already has it. Here, we don’t have to invite people. People just get to follow you because they were already following you,” he points out.
“With any new thing you're trying to create, you need to look at the revenue. What's the point in doing something where you can’t make money?” he asks, as he believes paid promotions will soon start on the platform. However, there’s no clarification from Meta on that front yet. “Insta and FB are the most popular advertising platforms in the world. It's obvious that they will allow people to run ads here as well.”
No one’s scared of bots anyway, which are omnipresent, second only to God. “Insta anyway has lots of bots. They are everywhere,” he says, dismissing concerns over it.
What about reports that you can never really delete your data once you post on Threads? It’s true, says Jain, users can only deactivate their Threads account. “It's a very smart move because allowing one to delete an account means the platform will lose its audience,” observes Sorav Jain.
So, is Threads a clone or a clown? It’s too early to tell, but if you are among those who are still making up their minds, here are ten points to help you decide.