More from The hunt for the next Twitter: all the news about alternative social media platforms
I still can’t quite figure out Threads’ position on news, but Bluesky is welcoming journalists with open arms. It just published an FAQ specifically about how press should think about using the platform. I respect the move, Bluesky.
[blueskyweb.xyz]
KTLA has had a look around Meta’s X/Twitter competitor and points out that several major brands, including the BBC, CBS, and the NFL, have quietly stopped posting on Threads from their main accounts. Those that have continued are seeing limited engagement, which makes sense given how overall user numbers have dipped (Meta, obviously, is reportedly working hard on changing this).
Soon after Meta’s Instagram-based Twitter competitor launched, some of the millions of people who activated Threads noticed a small issue. Once you create an account on Threads, the only way to delete it is to delete your Instagram account, too.
However, Meta chief privacy officer Michel Protti said during the TechCrunch Disrupt event that Meta will launch individual deletion for Threads accounts by December. Another situation it’s working on handling is fediverse support for situations like “what happens when a Threads post goes to another server and is then deleted by the author.”
One of the many Twitter alternatives has a new name (via TechCrunch). According to the Pebble account on Pebble:
Why Pebble? 🪨 A small stone can create waves far beyond its size. Similarly, every Pebble user has the potential to make a huge splash in our community. Here’s to the ripples we all create together!
Pebble can now also use AI to suggest posts or replies. “We want to make sure that you see great content, that you’re posting great content, and that you’re interacting with the community,” CEO Gabor Cselle said in an interview with Wired.
The Twitter alternative is still in a closed beta. “Our current focus is on preparing to open up and getting the network to a state that can support many more users,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the milestone.
I was a big fan of Bluesky earlier this year, but I’ve recently been doing my microblogging on Threads.
[blueskyweb.xyz]
A blog post by analytics firm Similarweb says data from the Android Threads app show the social network has fallen to 10.3 million daily active Android users as of August 7th. That’s down from a July 7th peak of 49.3 million.
Earlier this month, both Gizmodo and CNN cited Similarweb data while reporting the Threads slump. Whether Threads could still go the distance remains to be seen, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is keeping a positive face for investors.
[Similarweb]
The new feed mixes personalized recommendations for you with things that are trending, according to a blog post from Bluesky. But thanks to Bluesky’s custom feeds feature, if you don’t like it, you can remove it.
[blueskyweb.xyz]
No surprise, but Adam Mosseri tells Casey Newton web Threads is indeed en route.
“The original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit,” mastodon.social is unreachable at the moment, but not because of DNS problems (for once) or Instagram Threads.
It’s actually undergoing maintenance that’s only supposed to cause twenty minutes or so of downtime.
Update: And right on schedule, it’s back up!
[status.mastodon.social]
That’s not something I thought I’d be typing today, but what else is new? Anas Haqqani, a Taliban leader, tweeted his support of Twitter, saying other competitors can’t replace it (via Vice Motherboard).
He lauds its “freedom of speech,” calling Meta “intolerant.”
Vice quotes Aram Shabanian, an OSINT manager for nonpartisan think tank New Lines Institute, who is surprised the Taliban endorses Twitter:
“Zuckerberg is clearly the Mullah Omar of this situation,” Shabanian said, referring to the founder of the Taliban and previous ruler of Afghanistan. “You may not like him, but at least you know what you’re getting...”
“Unlike going with Musk, who represents a lawless, profit-driven society. Musk is all balls, no shaft, as the ancient Armenian proverb goes.”
The two posted on Threads today, with Zuckerberg posting that the march to 100 million users of the new Twitter clone over the last five days has been mostly organic.
Mosseri, who heads up Instagram, said in a post he can’t wrap his mind around the platform’s early success. Mosseri has previously said that ads are an eventual “champagne problem.” One wonders if the company might not be ready to pop the cork sooner than expected.
Instagram’s Threads surpasses 100 million users
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince posted a graph to both Threads and Twitter today (Cloudflare’s communications VP Daniella Vallurupalli confirmed it was him) showing what he says is Twitter’s DNS ranking from January to now.
It’s, uh, not a great story!
Twitter alternative Threads, meanwhile, has been growing explosively — it’s less than three million from the 100 million user mark. It debuted on Wednesday.
Windows Central shows you how to get the Threads app installed using Windows Subsystem for Android, a feature that allows you to install and use Android apps on your Windows 11 machine.
Threads, sort of a spin-off of Instagram that wants to be the new Twitter, reached 95 million users overnight after less than a week, wildly outpacing other, similar clones.
Threads has quickly blown past the other Twitter alternatives in terms of registered accounts. The highest account number badge I’ve seen on Instagram so far this morning puts its count at over 86 million.
At the current pace, it’s likely Threads will hit 100 million today.
