Whether or not the much publicised cage fight between Twitter owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes place, the real battle is already playing out in the digital world. After weeks of teasing users and lobbying celebrities and politicians to migrate to its “rival to Twitter”, Meta has this week launched the text-based social media network Threads by Instagram (named, incidentally, after a messaging app it had launched in 2019 that folded within two years). It has not shied away from admitting that the new product is explicitly inspired by Twitter and designed to replace the original, which has been roiled by chaos since Musk’s takeover in October last year. And imitation or not, with five millions users signing up within four hours of its launch, Threads seems to be poised to do what other Twitter-wannabes like Mastodon and Truth Social have been unable to do.
Do internet users, 70 per cent of whom are reportedly already on at least one Meta platform, want to give over more of their online lives to the company? The sarcasm with which Musk greeted news of Threads’ launch — “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options” — echoed concerns that others have already raised. Alarm bells are also ringing about the amount of information that Threads will have access to, compared to even Instagram. Notably, the platform is not available in the European Union because of strict privacy laws.
When the Musk vs Zuckerberg cage match was proposed, the former had said he will be deploying a move that he calls “the walrus” which involves lying on top of an opponent and “doing nothing”. Outside the ring, Zuck has landed the first blow on his rival. Will Twitter’s heft be enough to pull off its owner’s favourite move?
