Mark Zuckerberg has declared war on Twitter’s strategy as Meta rolls out its new app, Threads—by describing Elon Musk’s social media giant as unfriendly and short of reaching its full potential.
“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 on Threads whether the app will be "bigger than Twitter."
“Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will.”
In just seven hours, over 10 million people have flocked to the new (but familiar) app to see what all the fuss is about, according to Zuckerberg.
The Meta founder further tweaked Musk by declaring that his app will be a kinder space than its rival Twitter, which has become more accepting of extreme views since the Tesla boss acquired it.
“The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it's possible and will ultimately be the key to its success,” he wrote. “That's one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently.”
Musk punches back
"It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” Musk hit back.
The Meta chief, who recently entertained a cage fight with Musk, then tweeted—for the first time in over a decade—to further troll Musk.
— Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) July 6, 2023
Making light of Threads' obvious similarity to Twitter, Zuckerberg posted the famous Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme.
Twitter responded to Fortune’s request for comment with its customary poop emoji.
Threads launch capitalizes on Twitter’s recent mishaps
Twitter has been rife with issues and complaints since Musk acquired it for $44 billion in October—meaning Zuckerberg launched the Threads app at a pivotal moment.
Twitter has faced occasional outages, and ad revenue has dried up—leaving its new CEO and advertising powerhouse Linda Yaccarino with a big job to take on. What’s more, user trust has slumped as Musk has cut back content moderation on the platform, leading thousands of users to deactivate their accounts.
Indeed, Zuckerberg is not the first tech founder to try to make the most of Twitter’s stumbles and offer a new home for its disgruntled followers. Just a few months ago, Mastodon was presented as the next go-to text-based social platform, while Twitter’s former boss, Jack Dorsey, recently brought out a "decentralized" alternative to the app called Bluesky.
But neither have caught on quite like Threads.
In the two months after its launch, Bluesky was downloaded 375,000 times from the Apple app store, while downloads of Mastodon are down 99% from their mid-November peak.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, called the new app an "initial version," with extra features planned, including the ability to interact with people on other social media apps like Mastodon.
Why leaders might want to join soon
If you’ve ever fiddled with Twitter, Threads should feel pretty intuitive.
Users can post up to 500 characters of text—compared to Twitter’s 280-character limit—with links, photos, and videos up to five minutes in length. Posts on Threads can also be posted on Instagram Stories or shared as a link.
But those aiming to become a thought leader on the platform may want to act fast.
“When platforms start, it’s much easier to make your voice heard and gain traction because of the initial buzz, but also the reduced competition,” said Rhea Freeman PR adviser, social media consultant and author of Small & Supercharged: Small Steps to Supercharge Your Brand on a Budget.
With 10 million signups, according to Zuckerberg, Threads is still relatively small compared to the billions of Instagram users, so “there’s a lot less noise and a greater opportunity to make yourself heard on Threads,” Freeman advises.
But the palpable buzz for the latest app in town means that leaders are already in for competition.
Christina Miller, head of social at the advertising agency VMLY&R, insists that users are already testing what type on content works for their community.
It’s why she recommends CEOs get ahead by considering what their unique strategy and perspective could be on the app.
“It’s a bit of a free-for-all at the moment as everyone is in the same position, so getting in and getting active with a vision for what kind of community you want to curate here will be important,” she warns. “Start conversations, show people why they should follow them, and give them a reason to come back for more.”
What’s more, because Threads is linked with your existing Instagram account and ports your followers over, you won’t need to start building your audience from scratch—but this applies to everyone, meaning competition will come in thick and fast.
Plus, with LinkedIn being the go-to place to post about all things business, many leaders may not have cultivated the strong Instagram following needed to get them the leg up to stand out among the already sizable crowd.
On the plus side, as Ben Jeffries, CEO and cofounder of Influencer, an influencer marketing firm, points out, growing on Threads shouldn’t be nearly as time-consuming as filming a TikTok video or writing an elaborative thought leadership post on LinkedIn.
“The trouble with apps like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and even Linkedin is that content creation takes considerable time, something that CEOs do not have,” he says. “Threads will enable CEOs to reach their audience and give insight in less than a minute.”
Want to sign up for Threads? Here’s Fortune’s breakdown of what you need to know first.
