Instagram users are quickly moving to Threads, and many seem to be loving it more than the rival micro-blogging site Twitter. The Elon Musk-Mark Zuckerberg fight seems to be escalating rapidly.
Meta launched Instagram’s sister platform Threads on July 6. The hashtag, #Threads, was one of the top trending hashtags in the UAE yesterday.
According to July 6 news reports, Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg boasted that 10 million users signed up for Threads in the first seven hours. “This is an absolutely gigantic number…,” tweeted Emmy-winning content executive, brand marketer @TimFullerton. “Many times, more than all the other Twitter competitors combined. This is why I think Threads could be a true Twitter killer. They have a built-in audience ready to go,” he added in his tweet.
Instagram users can open threads.net to download the app, which uses your Instagram login and prompts you to create your profile. With minimal steps, signing up is very easy. Users who are verified on Instagram, automatically get a blue verification tick on Threads, a feature that rival app Twitter is charging users for.
“IG (Instagram) login for #threads is a pretty smart move! Besides the obvious network effect of the existing user base, IG's younger demographic (18-24) is better suited for quick adoption of a new product as compared to FB's demo (25-34),” observed tweep @john_son_joseph.
Many Threads users were impressed by the easy and accessible interface.
Threads user @theekush posted: “I am finding Threads very comfortable to use… The interface is quite similar to Twitter. Let’s take a week to explore Threads… But, as Meta has more users compared to Twitter, adding a sub-branch to Meta is definitely an impressive move by Mark….”
Another user @Dikshay.07 posted: “… the user experience looks so great and interesting.”
However, some users pointed out features that Threads lacked, when compared to Twitter.
“Need to have a separate tab to see Threads only from people I follow. Having to read things that I didn’t ask for is really confusing my browsing and mental capacity. Please guys it’s too important!” wrote @mazennyassen.
While some users said it was too early to compare the performance of the new app, some joked that there were now too many platforms to scroll through.
“At this rate, 24 hours won’t be enough to scroll all the social media apps,” wrote @smilewithjeryl.
And, @a.basic.crazy.aditi posted: “At this rate, I’ll not do anything other than scrolling.”
