Is Threads Replacing Twitter in 2025?
Threads' Advantages
Threads is a social platform owned by Instagram, but its user interface looks and feels more like Twitter: there are buttons for likes, retweets, replies, and quotes at the bottom; accounts can be public or private.
Meta positions Threads as a new space for people to engage in real-time, open conversations.
Threads has an advantage over its competitors for two reasons: data and scale.
Meta's apps (including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) already have over 3 billion users, and Meta is making it easier for new accounts to open.
After downloading the new app, existing Instagram users can import their Instagram messages into Threads, including their bios, usernames, profile pictures, and following lists, without having to register. Instagram currently has over 1 billion users, while Twitter has approximately 400 million. This means that if half of Instagram's users decide to use Threads, it would already surpass Twitter's user base.
In less than a week after Threads' announcement, celebrities, brands like Airbnb, Netflix, Marvel Studios, and Spotify, as well as news outlets like CBS, Vox, and Vogue, joined the platform. These buzz led to the newcomer being dubbed the "Twitter killer."
Challenges Facing Threads
Despite its advantages, Threads faces the regulatory challenges of the modern market, which were not initially considered by Twitter.
Due to data regulation concerns, Meta has announced that it will not launch Threads in the EU for the time being. Meta has run afoul of numerous EU regulators over its handling of user data. To avoid disputes with regulators, Meta has postponed the app's EU launch.
Furthermore, the app's financial stability has been questioned. Meta has laid off tens of thousands of employees amid the overall tech industry slowdown. Meta's first-quarter net profit fell 24% year-over-year, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues to invest tens of billions of dollars in his "metaverse dream."
As for advertising, Threads currently doesn't display ads, but Zuckerberg stated that monetization will begin once the platform is running smoothly and "on a clear path to 1 billion users."