The social network Threads, owned by Meta, passed the milestone of 200 million monthly active users last August. Tech&Co delved into the depths of the platform shunned by young people.
“Threads.” The word is displayed in capital letters under the small black at-sign icon. This logo is that of the social network Threads, Instagram’s little brother, launched a little over a year ago by Meta to compete with X (formerly Twitter).
After a roaring start, with 100 million registered during the launch week in July, the flow of new users has largely slowed down. Meta’s latest addition now has 200 million monthly active users worldwide. In comparison, X has around 251 million daily active users. To better understand what is happening on this platform, Tech&Co wanted to delve into it.
A platform linked to Instagram
By seeing the hundreds and hundreds of suggestions for Threads publications that slip between the publications of our news feed on Instagram, the curiosity arises to go to the end of a message.
Go for this vague topic on fiber connection. “The master has completely given up on showing his apprentice. I ask him, ‘Well, why is this going wrong?'” we can read. The publication is intriguing. Neither one nor two, we click on this message to read the rest of the story.
With one click, we arrive on Threads, ready to read the technician’s response. “He always confuses screwing and unscrewing on the screwdriver, so he makes holes everywhere and there is nothing that holds,” reports the user.
Small disappointment, the story is ultimately nothing exceptional. However, it garners more than 140 likes, thanks to Instagram’s recommendation algorithm which suggests “threads”, equivalent to “tweets”.
More than a hundred likes for a slightly bland anecdote: that’s a bit of Threads’ trademark. Indeed, the platform favors everyday discussions, family chatter and gossip about the latest series rather than violent content, pornographic photos and other political news from its main competitor X (formerly Twitter). Maybe a little too much. Because, let’s say it frankly: the social network is deadly boring. And that’s what I’m looking for in the application.
What is the new Threads social network?
Just take a look at the interface. An almost exact copy of that of X. The publications (images, videos or links) follow one another by scrolling from top to bottom in the news feed. It is possible to “like”, share or send them, exactly on the same principle as X. In short, nothing very revolutionary.
Psychologist, gynecologist and mussels and fries
What is surprising at first glance is the number of threads where users tell everyday anecdotes. On the program, stories of a job interview that went badly, the children’s last crisis, this famous embarrassing appointment with the gynecologist or even these confessions to the psychologist.
Like the story of this little girl at the beach who had her sandcastle destroyed by her father. “I swear it hurt my heart so much, I had tears in my eyes. I saw myself when I was little when I made things and my parents threw them in the trash.” The post has been liked nearly 1,000 times.
Or this anecdote of a “big disappointment at the restaurant which offers mussels and fries”. Unfortunately, the dish is no longer available, so make way for a Caesar salad, practical for those who are gluten intolerant. But surprise: the salad arrives with fried chicken.
“To fry, you need egg, FLOUR and BREADcrumbs, two elements that I cannot eat. (…) Except that at no time is it written on the menus that ‘There’s fried chicken!’, complains the author.
An algorithm question?
When users do not share their stories on their own initiative, they are invited to do so by other Internet users. “Do you think we’re still attractive after 25 years???”, asks one of them. “What do you do in the evening after a day of work? I really want to know,” says another. 56 answers: “I’m walking my cat Noisette”, “I’m geeking”, “I’m doing my laundry”…
“Threads is a discussion space where users want to exchange and debate,” observes Stéphanie Laporte, founder of the social media agency OTTA. “That’s what pleases.”
Another notable fact about Threads is the negativity of the messages. Parcel delivered to the wrong recipient, train stuck for 3 hours between Marseille and Paris, stories of infidelity and argument on Vinted… Few stories tell of good news. An aspect that contrasts with Instagram, whose positive publications and photos of heavenly places have made it successful, but which still remains more refreshing than X.
Elon Musk’s social network is often described as anxiety-provoking by users, due to the number of aggressive messages, the waves of cyberharassment and the multitude of violent content. The platform is also getting closer to a fine from the European Union for breaching European rules regarding content moderation and transparency. The network is accused of not fighting online hatred effectively enough.
Here, therefore, little or no big speeches on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but anecdotes of pregnancy or endless neighborhood quarrels.
Blame it on the algorithm. “The algorithm highlights posts that don’t necessarily appeal to Instagram regulars,” its big brother, recognizes Stéphanie Laporte.
A network far from politics and current affairs
Indeed, the platform’s “for you” feed suggests to Internet users messages from other people likely to interest them, based on the accounts to which they are subscribed. The user then finds himself confronted with a series of very personal anecdotes from strangers, which sometimes come from a personal diary, or even news from the past week.
At Tech&Co, we actually came across a humorous publication on the composition of Michel Barnier’s new government… a week after the official announcement. Content discovered a little (too) late. Because if Meta’s application is similar in form to that of Elon Musk, it wants to distance itself from it in substance. Upon its launch, Instagram director Adam Mosseri warned that news and politics were not the new social network’s favorite topics, unlike X.
“Politics and current affairs will inevitably be present on Threads, but we are not going to do anything to encourage these verticals,” he explains.
No endless political debates here. The emphasis is on communities around a passion “who are interested in a less angry space for conversation” and on everyday anecdotes.
A boomer platform?
As a result, for many users who have tested Threads, the social network is a boomer hotspot. As proof, the numerous comments which compare Meta’s latest addition to the group’s oldest social network. “It looks like a joke from 2011 on Facebook,” wrote one Internet user in front of a meme.
“As a result, Threads has become a benchmark for people without ambition, who recover old Facebook trends to publish them 10 years later on a new platform, is that it?” asks another.
A crucial target is indeed missing on Threads: Gen Z. According to the moderator’s blog, more than two thirds of Internet users are over 24 years old. The family anecdotes and the “boomer” reputation of Threads hardly attract under-25s, who prefer Tiktok. Mark Zuckerberg’s new platform finds its audience more among thirty-somethings or Internet users looking for more polished content than on X, thanks to very present algorithms and moderation teams.
Threads has also made moderation its main focus to attract new users. The Meta Group is committed to verifying information propagated on Threads. A significant advantage in the face of the excesses of its competitor social. And above all, a massive leak of users… to the delight of Threads.
Meta’s latest addition got off to a great start. Five days after its launch in July 2023, it already had 100 million downloads, a milestone never reached in such a short time by a social network.
An impressive figure, therefore, which owes a lot to the synergy with Instagram. Indeed, Threads was launched as an extension of the application. It is therefore very easy to create an account from Instagram. The identifiers of the two platforms are also linked. A way to encourage the 1.8 billion users of Instagram, whose average age increases a little more each year, to test this new service.
“A semi-conclusive attempt”
A sufficient influx to overtake Elon Musk’s “public square”? Nothing is less certain. “Threads is a semi-conclusive attempt,” says Stéphanie Laporte. But the expert is convinced, everything is not to be thrown away in the application. The community aspect of the platform is promising. “Threads can become a network that unites niche communities and enthusiasts,” says Stéphanie Laporte. “For example, I saw a lot of fans of the series Bridgerton orEmily in Paris discuss an episode or a character. It’s starting to take off well.” At Tech&Co, the debate around unpopular opinionseditor’s note) on season 3 of Bridgerton actually kept us up late into the night.
In the United States, live publication of scores from NBA basketball matches is, for example, currently being tested. A way to encourage Internet users to discuss the results of their favorite teams directly on the application.
But the platform could just as easily disappear. Indeed, in its history, Meta has released a myriad of test applications, which the company ended up integrating directly into Instagram or Facebook.
“Instagram users want to communicate in ways other than video or photos. They want text publications. So why not integrate these directly into the application?”, she suggests.
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