What Threads Could Mean for Meta…and Twitter

If there’s a tech billionaire the news media hates more than Mark Zuckerberg, it's Elon Musk. That's why you're seeing an unusual deluge of positive coverage for Meta Platforms' Twitter rival app, Threads, which formally launched a short time ago. The positivity won’t last, to be sure. Before too long—give it a week—someone in the media will discover that Meta is collecting user data on Threads (shocking!) for advertising purposes, prompting a new scolding. For now, though, tech reporters are enjoying the idea that Threads poses a threat to Musk’s Twitter and are writing kindly about Meta as a result.

Will Threads actually damage Twitter? It certainly won’t help. Meta, in its formal announcement of Threads, said the new app "offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.” That certainly sounds like it aims to replace Twitter. But given how closely Threads is tied to Instagram—people log in using their Instagram accounts, for instance—users may not see it as a natural replacement for Twitter. After all, people use Instagram to share fun images with friends, but they turn to Twitter more to learn about weighty topics like finance, science and politics; promote their work; and attack anyone whose views they disagree with (not necessarily in that order).