Early this year the two high-profile technology billionaires engaged in some sort of invitation to a cage fight. “Up for a cage fight Mr Zuckerberg?”, “send me the location sir”. The Thread which has been released leverages the use of artificial intelligence apps to shape user experience. What many were convinced to be a real fight has turned out to be a dwell between Zuckerberg’s Instagram Threads and Musk’s Twitter war. The Threads which is thought to be a Twitter clone was launched with a bang in what may send Twitter to its deathbed. By Thursday morning, Instagram Threads had received over 30 million sign-ups. Celebrities, journalists and accounts that matter to Twitter are lined up for the new service in town!
Twitter took the hardest punch and could not look to the other side. In the words of Elon Musk, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” This comes after the company’s legal attorney; Alex Sapiro, sent a letter to Zuckerberg expressing willingness to walk him through the legal aisle.
Elon Musk Response to Claims
“We intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.”
The letter has further revealed that “Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice.” Musk’s Twitter did not take lightly the idea that some of Zuckerberg’s employees in the Threads Project were former employees with deep secrets fueling this competitor Killer App with artificial intelligence integrated into it.
Nonetheless, Andy Stone, Meta’s spokesperson, rubbished these claims as being empty as “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee – that’s just not a thing”.
Is the Thread a copy of Twitter?
Instagram Thread adds to the list of Twitter’s woes following the backlash after Elon Musk took over the platform in late 2022. Twitter was in the process of tightening its daily view limits when Thread visited the space with better offers. Here is a tabulated comparison:
| The Thread | |
| Allows a maximum of 280 characters | Offers up to 500 characters in terms of your post length |
| Allows you to post videos up to 2 mins 20 secs long | Allows videos going for 5 minutes long |
| No account verification is needed to start except for some companies and Twitter Blue Service Offers | You must verify your account through Instagram |
| Allows direct messages and hashtags | No direct messages and hashtags on The Thread |
| Allows trending stories on the platforms | Doesn’t allow trending story features |
Source: Meta/Twitter
We must remember that at the time of the Thread’s release, Twitter was still coming to terms after an 80% employee layoff in Musk’s attempt to reduce headcounts. Meta equally promised to follow suit in a staff cut that will see 10,000 employees lose their jobs.
Despite the glaring differences, both Twitter and Thread offer the same service to users. In the launch address, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg noted that “The vision for threads is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation. We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind.”
Also read: New Artificial Intelligence tool outperforms ChatGPT
Will the Thread Kill Twitter?
Well, The Thread is a Twitter clone which leverages some of the weaknesses of the Musk-owned company. Experts have equally expressed confidence that if Meta executes the Thread properly, it will hit the last nail on Twitter’s deathbed. Some of the unique features in the thread is integration of artificial intelligence capabilities.
“If they execute correctly, trying in all the successful aspects of the platforms and leveraging some of the volatility at Twitter, they could actually have a shot.” Ari Lightman, a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
With an alternative at the advertiser’s disposal, Twitter will struggle to convince users of its eternal value. While we wait to see how the war between these titans turns out, we can only hope it will be beneficial to the users. Remember, Meta is yet to roll out the Thread in Europe. Once that’s complete and the company starts to monetize, that will touch Musk where it surely hurts!
