Many of the platform’s posts have made memes out of the competition between Twitter and Threads. Users have photoshopped the faces of Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, and Musk onto famous fights, like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. News outlets, like The Guardian and Semafor, joined and started posting their articles. So far, those posts seem indistinguishable from tweets.
But users are having fun on the platform, too. Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Tom Brady all created accounts, and many celebrities posted welcome messages. Pitbull said, “Mr. Worldwide checkin in.” And Martha Stewart posted a photo in a pool, saying she was “ready to make a splash.”
Meta’s commitment to keep Threads “positive” is a contrast to Musk’s plan to make Twitter an uncensored platform. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said Meta decided to create the app specifically to respond to “product changes and decisions” that Musk made at Twitter.
The rollout has heightened the rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk, who have recently been threatening to cage-fight each other. After Threads’ release, Musk claimed he had previously deleted his Instagram account. “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” he wrote on Twitter.
Lawyers for Twitter sent Meta a letter threatening legal action, accusing Zuckerberg’s company of using trade secrets to build Threads. The app is also not currently available in the European Union because Meta is not yet sure whether it complies with Europe’s strict privacy rules.
Meta’s advantage
The early success has been a rare recent win for Meta. Facebook and Instagram have struggled to keep up with TikTok, while Zuckerberg’s dreams of creating a “metaverse” have gone mostly unrealized. The company has laid off thousands of employees.
Still, the early momentum for Threads does not guarantee long-term success. Other platforms, like BeReal and Clubhouse, have generated buzz as the future of social media, only to wither.
