Threads Poses a Real Threat to Twitter – if Meta Plays Its Cards Right | Analysis

Meta’s Twitter lookalike, Threads, has only been publicly available for a day and already has tens of millions of users.

That kind of explosive growth certainly makes a case that Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase finally has some real competition. But experts say Threads still has a lot to prove before it can represent the end of the blue bird’s reign.

“The challenges with profitability that Twitter continues to endure make Threads a real threat, as its creator [Meta] is an ad revenue machine,” said Matt Ferrel, VP at ticket site TickPick and former product marketing manager at Google.

It’s undeniable that Twitter has had a rough go with advertisers in recent years. The company has suffered big declines in ad revenue since Musk’s takeover with companies publicly disavowing the service and endless controversies bound to scare away marketing dollars. Musk has repeatedly affirmed he’ll say what he wants to say regardless of financial consequences, regularly taking public stances on divisive topics such as whether “cisgender” is a slur.

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“Twitter has never found its footing with monetization and continues to struggle when it comes to finding its footing within the ad ecosystem that powers Google and Facebook — and more recently Amazon and Apple,” Ferrel continued. “While the product [Threads] is new, if it’s able to find a meaningful, sustained audience and build out a more clear monetization strategy, I would not be surprised to see Twitter lose share, and eventually control, over real-time social text.”

The monetization strategy is indeed a question on people’s minds. Right now, the content dominating the app is largely community-focused and conversational. Service and product promotion are not as prevalent, which is a distinction from contemporary Twitter.

“Although I’m loving [Threads] so far, there appears to be no analytics or insights available, which is a huge red flag to me as a marketer,” said Ashley Mason, founder of marketing company Dash of Social.

If Threads doesn’t give marketers and advertisers the tools they need to effectively use it, that could be a problem that stops it from becoming a true Twitter rival. That said, it’s very early in the app’s lifespan, so such tools may be on the way. There’s also the chance Meta could be deliberately avoiding aggressive monetization on the app right now so as to not scare people away while a community builds.

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Meta didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on this matter.

One common item experts agreed upon was that Threads’ massive userbase so soon after launch was a big advantage in the race to rival Twitter. Threads accomplished this because the app is just an extension of Instagram. As a result, anyone with an Instagram account can, within a few quick taps of their phone screen, have a Threads account and add their Instagram follows.

“With Meta’s substantial existing Instagram userbase (approximately 1.2 billion active users), they may finally land a meaningful blow on the reigning champion,” said Kieron Leppard, executive creative director at business growth company Huge, noting Threads’ built-in userbase could give it the Twitter-threatening competitive edge that Truth Social and Bluesky Social lacked.

Leppard added that though Threads lacks a “killer feature” at present, its stripped-down experience is reminiscent of Twitter’s earlier days and that alone may be enough for it to build traction.

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“While Twitter has long served as a platform for news and public discourse, Threads may appeal more to users seeking closer connections within their follower community,” said Mike Mandell, social media expert and principal attorney at Mandell Law. He referenced this as a potential drawback, proposing the idea that Threads could be seen as a more insular, community-focused offshoot of Instagram rather than a proper Twitter rival and that such perception could limit its reach.

Mandell noted that while it’s too early to tell if Threads poses a legitimate threat to Twitter, the latter’s “volatility and unpredictability” still gives Threads a clear-cut shot at disrupting the Musk version of Twitter’s positioning.

For their part, Musk and Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino have already dunked on and publicly dismissed Threads.

“We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated,” Yaccarino tweeted. And Musk took a jab at Threads’ data-harvesting policies to mock Meta’s internal claims that his service wasn’t “sanely run.”

Despite Twitter leadership’s public dismissal of Threads, their legal moves imply they may be taking Meta’s product more seriously than they initially let on. Elon Musk’s personal lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent Meta a cease-and-desist letter on behalf of Twitter, saying Threads was the product of former Twitter employees’ trade secrets. The letter threatened legal action and stated that Meta should retain documents related to Threads’ development ahead of potential forthcoming litigation. Meta dismissed Twitter’s claims in media statements.

It’s far too early to tell if Threads is actually capable of concretely damaging Twitter’s strength or usurping the live-reaction social media throne. But this much is clear: It has everyone’s attention.

If even Twitter’s head honchos are taking Threads seriously, it could be a sign that the home of tweets finally smells a real challenger. Where smaller operations such as Bluesky Social and Mastodon failed to make major waves, Threads, via its built-in link to Instagram’s vast user pool, has the means to rock the boat.

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