Meta shares skyrocketed just hours after the launch of Threads, its new free app that is said to be a direct threat to Twitter. Within the first 18 hours of its launch, it saw 30 million sign-ups, and all the hype around the “Twitter Killer” as it has been dubbed, helped Meta shares close nearly 3% higher on Wednesday ‘before adding a further 1.7% in pre-open Thursday trading,’ according to Investing.com.
Is Twitter really suing Meta after the launch? Will the shares of Meta continue to shoot up? Will Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk really get physical now and is the war between text-heavy apps just beginning?
Read on and follow the thread to all the latest action around the matter.
The Launch of Instagram’s Threads
The launch of Threads by Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, took the social media world by storm on Wednesday, July 5, after Mark Zuckerberg – Meta CEO – shared his first thread saying “Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s Thread account feed.
Within hours of its launch, Threads had 30 million signups, including celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez, making it the fastest-downloaded app in history.
Let's just put that number into perspective, with a look at how long it took other platforms to reach one million users.
Source: Statista
Showing a similar purpose and user-interface to Twitter, Threads is trying to stand up to the core of what Twitter is all about. The new platform on the block is selling itself as a place where people can have real-time conversations online, as well as share their ‘unfiltered’ thoughts and opinions. Twitter is well-known for being the platform where users talk about the more difficult subjects, like politics and world matters, and where people take a stand. Now, it seems, Threads is trying to tear down that monopoly and take its place in this space.
Users of Instagram can sign-up to Threads through their existing Instagram account and use the same name on both apps, making users instantly recognizable to existing Instagram followers. Once this is done, however, users who then want to delete their Threads account must also delete their Instagram account, as they go together as a package if you choose this way of signing-up.
As Instagram is image heavy and Threads is text heavy, the interlinking of the two could give users the perfect combination when it comes to sharing their personal lives and taking a stand on social issues.
Adam Mosseri’s Thread account feed.
Meta Stocks Reaction
Just after Threads launched on Wednesday, Meta’s shares closed nearly 3% higher before going even higher with a further 1.7% gain in pre-open Thursday trading.
Meta daily chart, July 6th, 2023.
This massive climb is expected to have ‘little near-term impact from the launch. At maturity, Wells Fargo analysts estimate potential annualized impact at 1-3% of revenue and EPS,’ according to Investing.com.
Twitter Threats to Sue Meta for Copycat Actions
Twitter is not taking the threat of annihilation lying down. According to a letter cited by Semafor that was addressed to Zuckerberg, Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, allegedly accused Meta of unlawfully using Twitter’s trade secrets. Spiro has been quoted as saying in the letter that Twitter, "intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights".
Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, quickly replied to the allegations by saying that, "no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee that's just not a thing.".
Twitter and Elon Musk
Twitter came to life in 2006 and raised $1.8 billion when it went public in 2013. In 2022 Tesla front man, Elon Musk, bought Twitter for $44 billon and pulled a publicity stunt by entering the San Francisco office carrying a bathroom sink and tweeting “entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”
Elon Musk Twitter account.
Over the past year Musk has said he will charge anyone for verification for $8+ a month for a Twitter Blue subscription and that he will limit how many Tweets people can see.
Threads and Twitter: A Comparison
Threads is in its infant stage and has a lot of room to grow, as Instagram Head, Adam Mosseri, already said in a thread that there are many functionalities on the way.
Adam Mosseri’s Thread account feed.
But before all these “tons of basics that are missing” are incorporated into the app, here is a break-down of the main features of both apps.
| Threads | |
| Focus on text posts | Focus on text posts |
| Users can like, reply, and repost | Users can like, reply, and repost |
| Limited to 500 characters | Limited to 280 characters |
| Cannot send direct messages | Can send direct messages |
| Cannot search for content | Can search for content |
| Cannot use hashtags to gain from viral trends | Can use hashtags to gain from viral trends |
| Can share photos | Can share photos |
| Videos can go up to 5 minutes | Videos can go up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds |
Zuckerberg also joined in with Mosseri to get the point across that there is a lot more to come for Threads by threading that it “feels like the beginning of something special, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead to build out the app”.
How are Other Big Names Trying to Get Their Piece of the Pie
Influencers now have more room to move with Threads and big company names are already being smart about using the app to their advantage. Netflix (NFLX) didn’t miss a beat and used the fact that the app was launched on a Wednesday to remind us all of its very successful series.
Netflix Threads account feed
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And now what?
Many other companies have tried to match Twitter but without much success. They did not have the power of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram behind them and so didn’t make such a splash in the social media pond.
Now, after days of hype, there are three main questions hanging in the air:
- Is it this just a flash in the pan, will all this hype disappear as people settle into the platform they most prefer?
- How will the companies’ stocks react over the next couple of days?
- Should we fear the amount of user data Meta will now be able to get its hands on?
All we can do is continue to be updated, follow where the news leads, and be ready to use this knowledge in the near future.
Summary
- Meta launches Threads, a direct competitor to Twitter
- Meta share prices shoots up on the news
- Twitter is said to sue Meta for using Twitter’s trade secrets
- Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter a year ago has cause some controversy
- Threads and Twitter have many similarities and many differences
- Threads says it has many more features to add
- Threads is already being used by celebrities and big-name companies