Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shared some criticism of rival Elon Musk’s Twitter. Zuckerberg described Twitter as an unfriendly platform that is falling short of its full potential. The Meta CEO also noted that Threads could be a public conversations app with over a billion people on it.
“It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it,” Zuckerberg wrote when asked if he believed Threads would be “bigger than Twitter.”
“Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” the Meta CEO added.
Zuckerberg’s comments come amidst the successful launch of Threads, which gained over 10 million users in just seven hours. The Meta CEO also hinted that Threads would be a kinder alternative to Twitter, which Zuckerberg noted could be key to reaching the newly-launched platform’s potential.
Post by @zuckView on Threads
“The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success. That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Elon Musk appears to have responded to the successful launch of Threads, responding to a Twitter post about his deletion of his Instagram account several years ago that “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”
Despite his apparent challenge to Twitter and shade towards Musk, Zuckerberg appears to be taking a lighthearted stance about Threads’ rivalry with the Tesla CEO’s social media platform. This was hinted at when Zuckerberg posted on his Twitter page for the first time in over a decade. The Meta CEO posted the Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme, seemingly admitting to the similarities between Twitter and Threads.
Threads is a notable challenger to Twitter, though it is hardly the first. Following Musk’s turbulent takeover of Twitter last year, critics of the Tesla CEO promoted potential alternatives to the social media company. These include Mastodon, which was presented as the next big thing after Twitter, and Bluesky, which is founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Despite the hype, however, neither has really caught on as much. Within the two months following its launch, Bluesky saw 375,000 downloads from the Apple App Store. Mastodon’s downloads, on the other hand, have seen a 99% decline from their highs in November last year.
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