5 Minutes on Threads: Instagram's Twitter Rival | EP 18
Description
In this episode of UNinvested, Sahil discusses the rapid rise of Threads, Instagram's new Twitter rival. He examines the implications of Threads' unprecedented user growth, its impact on Twitter, and the ongoing battle between these two social media giants. Sahil explores the differences in user experience, data privacy concerns, and potential future developments in this evolving story.
What we explore:
Overview of Threads: Instagram's new platform and its rapid growth
Comparison of Threads' growth to other major platforms like TikTok and Instagram
Analysis of user experience on Threads versus Twitter
Discussion on data privacy concerns and censorship on Threads
Predictions on the future coexistence of Threads and Twitter
The potential impact of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk's leadership on their respective platforms
Speculation on the potential MMA fight between Zuckerberg and Musk as a metaphor for their business rivalry
Where to find Uninvested:
Website: https://www.uninvested.org/
In this episode, we cover:
[00:00:00] Introduction: Sahil introduces the episode and the main topic of discussion
[00:00:52] Overview of Threads: Sahil explains what Threads is and its initial success
[00:01:25] Comparison of platform growth: Sahil compares Threads' growth to other platforms like TikTok and Instagram
[00:02:01] User experience on Threads: Discussion on how Threads feels compared to Twitter and Instagram
[00:03:04] Data privacy and censorship: Examination of data privacy concerns and censorship issues on Threads
[00:04:38] Future predictions: Sahil shares his thoughts on the future coexistence of Threads and Twitter
[00:05:25] Leadership impact: Discussion on how Zuckerberg and Musk's leadership styles impact their platforms
[00:06:03] Speculation on MMA fight: Metaphorical discussion on the potential fight between Zuckerberg and Musk as a symbol of their rivalry
[00:07:39] Closing remarks: Sahil wraps up the episode and invites listeners to share their thoughts
[00:00:00] Welcome back, everyone, to UNinvested, your guide to all things entrepreneurship, tech, and venture capital.
[00:00:09] As always, my name is Crockett Callaway. I'm Sahil Seth. Today we bring you a special edition of what we're calling UNinvested World Tour. Sahil and I have been traveling for quite some time. We're going all around the world but in very different places.
[00:00:26] I myself am doing a little bit of a trip around Europe. We're reporting to you live from a hostel in Vienna right now. Sahil, where are you heading off to?
[00:00:30] I'm going to be heading off to Hong Kong tomorrow. I'm currently in Goa, India, so filming from my hotel room right now. But of course, the show must go on.
[00:00:38] So as always, we are reporting to you live about all of the latest and greatest in entrepreneurship, tech, and VC. This week and last week, there were very important developments in the world of social media, most importantly with the emerging app Threads.
[00:00:52] Sahil, what kind of background can you give me on Threads?
[00:00:55] Basically, Threads, the simplest way to break it down is it's Instagram's version of Twitter. Mark Zuckerberg decided to go ahead and launch this new platform. Unlike Reels that competed with TikTok, he launched Threads, which is a standalone app that gained 100 million users in five days, which is unprecedented growth.
[00:01:12] For a quick comparison, ChatGPT gained that many users in two months. TikTok took nine months. Instagram itself took two years and six months. So Threads really blew up with users, but Crockett, I'd love to get your thoughts on the app itself. Do you like it? Have you used it?
[00:01:27] The app itself is very similar to Twitter. It's also much easier to access because you already have your Instagram access linked through Meta. Celebrities immediately started joining the platform right off the bat. So when you go on, it feels like you're early to the platform. It feels lively, but it also feels very similar to Instagram.
[00:01:45] It's just easy to put out content. It's a bit different than Twitter in that the community feels a little bit less rigid. I think it feels a little bit more fluid. But it's interesting, Sahil, you mentioned this extreme growth and compared it to platforms like Instagram or Google Plus back in the day, which had kind of mass growth.
[00:02:02] I think what a lot of people are marveling at right now is just how fast it's taken one of the records alongside ChatGPT and others for the fastest platform growth. But in my opinion, we really have to take into account scaling over time for tech and social media usership, right? We've never had in the history of Earth so many people use social media and so many people use it so frequently, which is most important here.
[00:02:19] So I think that, in my opinion, you have to account for just how many people are using it, how many people have access to the App Store, especially globally. So part of me thinks that maybe the number isn't that jarring. That's just what we might expect today for a really hyped-up app. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
[00:02:38] For me, it's not the amount of people on the platform, it's the fact that it was so easy to scale to 100 million people. You think of startups and platforms, if they were to get 100 million people within five days, they would crash and crumble. The platform, the servers would not be able to handle it.
[00:02:59] Instagram seamlessly scaled to 100 million people within a day, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg's army of software engineers. That it was able to scale this easily, integrate into Instagram, and not have any problems or downtime is very interesting to me.
[00:03:18] Two questions for you here, Sahil. My first question is, do you think the hype is real? Is it overrated? Will it fade and plateau? And my second question is, who is going to win the battle between Threads and Twitter?
[00:03:32] What are your thoughts on both?
[00:03:35] At first, I thought Twitter was done for. I'm an avid Twitter user and spend hours on it every day. When I saw Threads, I thought, okay, Twitter is done for. There's too many bots on Twitter. On Instagram, there are fewer bots and it's linked to your Instagram account, making it a more verified system. But as I've used Threads, I'd say the content is not the same.
[00:03:52] I wonder if all these Twitter users will migrate over to Threads or if this will create whole new communities, leaving Twitter intact. Another interesting aspect is the censorship and data privacy of Threads. Instagram and Meta have gone through many scandals, but Threads isn't even available in the EU due to stringent data rights that haven't approved it yet.
[00:04:09] The data collection includes health data, fitness data, browsing history, basically everything on your phone. Another aspect is the censorship of Threads.
[00:04:26] I saw a post where people were trying to post the same things they posted on Twitter to Threads, and it wasn't uploading because they mentioned Ukraine and Russia within the same post. Mark Zuckerberg wants Threads to be a fun, happy place, unlike what Elon Musk is trying to do with Twitter and get the truth out there.
[00:04:40] We've all seen it on that same note. The two founders here, Zuckerberg and Musk, are very aware of the issues with censorship, data privacy, and data scraping. So much so, in fact, that this last week we saw an update in Twitter where they actually reduced the number of tweets that you could make a day, depending on how many followers you had and your verified status.
[00:05:03] So many people have been going on these platforms and scraping them externally to understand user statistics, behavior, and keywords people are putting in all the time.
[00:05:19] I'm curious to see if Threads is going to follow and either reduce some of those privacy concerns, maybe uncheck some of those boxes that you unknowingly check off when you agree to the terms of service or make some privacy updates. I think it's interesting right now, right? Everyone's obviously thinking about this potential MMA fight that might happen between Zuckerberg and Musk.
[00:05:39] I think that is very much emblematic of what is going on here. Threads and Twitter are going to have to go round for round with these updates, ultimately to kind of understand who is going to pull ahead and who will plateau first.
[00:05:59] I think there's also a lot of speculation that these two apps can't coexist. I'm curious to know what your thoughts are there if it's a matter of one beating out the other and one app getting eliminated or if they're going to coexist, with one just being much higher in usage than the other.
[00:06:09] I fully think that these two apps will coexist. I mentioned earlier, I do think Twitter has a base of users and influencers, whether they are news reporters, social media influencers, or in the venture capital space. It’s very hard to migrate your whole following to a different platform. So those top brands are going to remain on Twitter and keep their following.
[00:06:29] I do think Threads and Twitter will coexist but kind of diverge into their own niches in some regard. For example, Instagram-type content will be on Threads, whereas real news and the uglier side of life will remain on Twitter.
[00:06:51] You're saying kind of baseline Threads is still going to remain loyal to Instagram's component of outward pushing not news, but more so just kind of personal content and thoughts, while Twitter will be breaking news, personal takes on news, and more tangible information about the world at hand, right?
[00:07:01] Exactly. That's what I think it is.
[00:07:08] It'll be interesting to see because, as we've been reading, Elon is talking about suing Threads over copying Twitter. Look, in the coming weeks, we'll have to stay keen on what privacy updates look like on both platforms and what the founders are doing.
[00:07:25] What's also going to be important is watching what the teams do on both sides. We've seen that in recent months, Twitter has lost a lot of employees over concerns about Musk's direction with the app. We haven't seen as much information on Meta and Threads, but again, maybe their privacy about employee concerns is different.
[00:07:44] These are a lot of different stats that we're going to have to be watching over the next couple of weeks. But with that being said, we'd always love to hear from you, the audience, about what your thoughts are. Feel free to drop us a thread post, a tweet, or comment on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and the rest.
[00:08:02] I think this is still a developing story and we'll definitely be updating with part two soon.
[00:08:03] Definitely. Well, as always, my name is Crockett Callaway. I'm Sahil Seth and this has been UNinvested. Thank you.
[00:08:10] This is a personal video. Any views or opinions represented in this video are personal and do not represent those of people, institutions, or organizations we may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity. The views expressed are for entertainment purposes only and not to be misinterpreted as actionable investment advice.
