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If you’re a Twitter user who’s just getting started with Instagram’s new threading platform, the experience can be a bit jarring. Threads are very similar to Twitter but very different in many ways. It seems to have a lot less news and political discourse than what could be considered a competitor. As it turns out, this is an intentional choice made by Meta, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri.
In conversation on topics with the edge Mosseri’s journalist Alex Heath explained that Topics’ goal is not to replace Twitter, but rather to create a “public space for communities on Instagram that haven’t really embraced Twitter.” Mosseri said the platform is aimed at communities who care about a “less angry place” for conversations, but not all of Twitter.
Within a few days after launching the Thread app, it had more than 78 million users. While a lot of that can be attributed to the network effects of being an offshoot of Instagram, this is still pretty impressive. That’s less than 20 percent of the number of users Twitter has but right now, it seems unlikely Threads will feel like competition even if they get that many users.
“Politics and hard news will inevitably show up on Topics – they have Instagram to some extent too – but we won’t do anything to encourage these sectors,” Mosseri explained in a post.
Going forward, Mosseri has not ruled out the importance of political discourse and hard news, but according to him, any increase in participation or revenue it may push is not worth the scrutiny, negativity or integrity risks that come with it. He also hinted that the platform could focus on a range of other topics including sports, music, fashion, beauty, entertainment, and more.
Post by @mosseri
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Since it was acquired by Elon Musk, a large number of users have been searching for an alternative platform. Since taking office, Musk has implemented several changes that would seem counterintuitive to anyone, including a paid verification system, limiting the number of accessible tweets and more.
Although it looked promising at first, Themes may not be the new home many of these users are looking for. But it doesn’t mean there aren’t enough alternatives – BlueSky is still around and many instances of Mastodon are quite active.
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