X, formerly known as Twitter, is one of the most popular and controversial social media apps of the 21st century. It’s no surprise such a polarizing platform would eventually gain competitors. With the debut of Instagram Threads having come and gone, it seems social media users aren’t quite ready to abandon X.
The text post based social media mogul X was the first of its kind. According to The New York Times, the name change from Twitter to X was inspired by the parent company X Corp. which was founded by Elon Musk to acquire Twitter. Following ownership and creative direction being handed down to Musk, the platform has undergone several major changes in the past year.
In his efforts to cut costs from the company, Musk reduced X’s total staff from 7,500 employees to less than 2,000, according to CNN. Following these extreme staff cuts, the platform began to experience intense glitches and malfunctions within the everyday interface. Users were recommended weeks-old content, unable to see photos or open links, and many even received welcome messages, as if their accounts had never existed at all.
Enter threads, Instagram’s parent company, Meta’s newest creation. Threads was marketed as the direct competitor to X. CNN reported over 100 million downloads within Threads first week of launch; it looked like the platform might really be the next text post based social media platform to stand a fighting chance against its predecessor.
Weeks after Threads launch, the platform remains skeletal compared to X. Threads lacks functionality essential to sustainable social platforms.There is still no desktop version to the app or any section for trending topics and news.
Threads accounts must link to any already existing Instagram profiles. This was an issue for many users because they were unable to delete or deactivate Threads without also deleting their Instagram account, or signing up with an entirely different email.
According to CNN the largest feature missing is the inability to communicate through direct message within the threads app itself, instead you must switch back and forth between your Instagram account and Threads account to direct message someone, although the apps are linked and inseparable.
Threads emerged in a time where the market was frustrated with X. Users could simply purchase a blue check mark for use. Previously, there was an application process to assert that someone who earned a blue check mark was who they claimed to be in the eye of the public. Now the lines are blurred.
Then it got worse. After X had an issue with their Google cloud services, users found themselves on a view limit for tweets according to Bloomberg. Threads launched during this mishap, hoping to pull users from X. It is simple and easy to link your Instagram account with Threads, but there is no substantial benefit in linking. Nonetheless, people flocked.
44 million users were active on Threads at its peak on July 7. However, in a matter of days the momentum Threads had built vanished. That number dropped dramatically by 70% to 13 million by July 21, just two weeks later according to Forbes.
As the weeks go by after threads inception, avid social media users are left to decide which platform they spend their time scrolling through.
Although moving to Threads was a strongly desired outcome, we found that the platform lacked some of the basic necessary components to make it enjoyable to use. The interface felt like a cheap knock off of X, and the overall viewing experience was visually straining.
The familiarity and sleekness of X won the app back in our hearts, regardless of any other concerns or potential future issues with it. The view limit went away and almost everything felt back to normal.
The question remains if X will stand the test of time. Though there is a chance Threads could come back from the dead, without serious changes we aren’t hopeful.
