Threads: A Social Media Platform for Calm and Constructive Conversations
As social media platforms continue to be a hub for news and political debates, new entrant Threads looks set to adopt a different approach. Instead of promoting news and political content, the platform is aiming to focus on other community interests such as sports, music, fashion, and entertainment, seeking to appeal to users who have shied away from platforms like Twitter. The announcement was made by Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, who clarified Threads' stance on hosting news content.
In a discussion about whether Threads would invite news outlets to post content on the platform, similarly to Twitter, Mosseri stated that while politics and hard news would undoubtedly appear on Threads, the platform would not actively encourage these verticals. This is a surprising move, considering how breaking news and politics contributed significantly to Twitter's growth into a major social media platform. However, Mosseri believes that the same content might alienate some users if Threads follows Twitter's footsteps.
Mosseri underlined that politics and hard news are crucial, but from a platform's perspective, the potential engagement or revenue that these topics could bring might not be worth the scrutiny, negativity, or integrity risks associated with them. Therefore, Threads aims to create a public square for conversations, mirroring Elon Musk's goal for Twitter, but with a key difference: Threads wants to be "a less angry place for conversations".
Mosseri emphasized that there are numerous fantastic communities—ranging from sports and music to fashion and beauty—that could create a vibrant platform without the need to delve into politics or hard news. He clarified that Threads wouldn't actively discourage or down-rank news or politics, but it simply won't court them as it used to.
The announcement of Threads' unique approach comes as it surpasses 70 million sign-ups within two days of its launch, exceeding parent company Meta’s expectations. With this, Threads is already approximately one-third the size of Twitter’s daily active users. It remains to be seen how this new strategy will continue to fuel the platform's growth and user engagement in the future.
