Mark Zuckerberg’s competing social network poses the first significant challenge to Twitter since Elon Musk’s takeover.
If Threads indeed proves to be a Twitter-killer, it asserts that it will achieve this feat through a “kindness” approach. Mark Zuckerberg, whose company Meta recently introduced this competing platform, emphasized the notion of positivity as a major distinguishing factor for a product that bears a striking resemblance to its rival. “We are fully dedicated to promoting kindness and creating a welcoming environment,” he expressed in a statement on his Threads account.
He further commented that Twitter fell short of its potential due to its inability to maintain a positive atmosphere, emphasizing that the new service’s success hinges on being “friendly.” However, a recent friendly interaction between the Meta CEO and a mixed martial arts professional served as a reminder to users that Zuckerberg recently accepted Elon Musk’s challenge for a cage fight.
Transforming negativity into positivity.
The emphasis on promoting positivity, coming from a company that has experienced its own content controversies, reveals the tech industry’s perception of Twitter’s performance under Musk’s leadership. Twitter has issued a threat to sue Meta for developing what it deems a “copycat app,” but Zuckerberg is determined to steer clear of replicating the negativity that pervades that platform.
In October of last year, when Musk acquired Twitter in a $44 billion (£38 billion) deal, he, as a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” unsettled the company’s public image through two significant actions. Firstly, he implemented a series of changes, including substantial job cuts and the imposition of viewing limits, which garnered negative attention and seemed to impact the platform’s performance. Secondly, he antagonized the platform’s liberal user base by reinstating the accounts of controversial figures like the misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate, and engaging in actions such as unilaterally banning journalists before retracting those bans and restoring their accounts.
With the introduction of Threads, the presence of other potential rivals to Twitter, such as decentralized platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky, becomes less concerning for Musk. Mastodon currently boasts approximately 13 million users, while BlueSky, supported by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, is an invite-only application that had to temporarily halt sign-ups over the weekend due to heightened interest following Musk’s implementation of tweet-viewing restrictions.
