Twitter's best defense against Threads may be to refocus on news and reactions from people you follow, leaving growth via algorithmic feeds to Threads
If you're only going to tweet once every 11 years, then you better make it count; the best way to do just that is to pull off a well-executed meme:
StratecheryBen Thompson
Context & Ripple Effects
Threads entered the market with Instagram-linked onboarding and a TikTok-like feed in which the follower graph mattered less, according to coverage of its launch mechanics. That setup made broad algorithmic discovery a central competitive advantage rather than a feature Twitter could easily neutralize by copying it.
For Twitter, the recommendation is a sharper product and editorial priority: make following-based news, live discussion, and reactions more useful instead of treating algorithmic reach as the primary battleground.
For users and publishers, that would make Twitter’s value proposition more dependent on the quality and timeliness of accounts they choose to follow, rather than on passive discovery.
Second-order effects
Threads can continue optimizing its Instagram-derived recommendation system for creator and friend engagement, while Twitter would compete for the newsmakers, commentators, and audiences that value a chronological or relationship-led context.
A more distinct positioning reduces direct feature-for-feature competition, but it also raises the stakes for Twitter’s handling of external links and the health of the conversations around news.
Third-order effects
If the split endures, social platforms may segment more clearly between algorithmic entertainment-and-creator feeds and network-centered public-information services, rather than converging on one universal feed model.
That structure would make a platform’s moderation, link policies, and treatment of influential accounts part of its product differentiation—not merely operational choices.
The trend: The story is one data point in the fragmentation of social media into algorithmic discovery products and follow-graph-based venues for real-time public conversation.
Don't want to leave you hanging by a thread... but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February. There's only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it. 🎤
“In truth, though, that war is already lost: Musk's lurch for the upper right was probably the best path to reigniting user growth, but if that is the corner that matters then Threads will win.” https://stratechery.com/...
“Twitter's best defense against Threads may be to retreat to that lower left corner: focus on what is happening now, from people you chose to follow. The problem, though, is that while this might win the battle against Threads, it means that Musk will have lost the war when it...…
Threads has shown you can charge money for verification without your replies being filled with the worst takes possible from paid Blue checks. Who woulda thunk it?
It certainly feels like the developed world has grown more comfortable with making their content public—but the billion dollar question is if text is really a mass market use-case. Twitter has...
It's unclear to me whether Threads is going the direction of a Twitter-alternative—or a new Facebook newsfeed that brings coastal urban audiences back to posting text with their friends & family. The...
I think Threads will be what Twitter could have been if it's leadership — Dick Costolo, Jack Dorsey and eventually Elon Musk, didn't consider the toxicity of the service as a necessary evil to enable...
I discovered I can't get verified without making my insta account public, and the idea of deleting six years of photos of my son to do so safely breaks my heart. @mosseri would you reconsider that...
Threads feels far more playful than Twitter—closer to a chatroom than microblogging. Less anxiety when posting means a higher participation rate—but lower quality content. It may just be the nature...
https://www.nytimes.com/... And beyond interesting-ness, it also precludes some of the most valuable ways of amplifying necessary voices. Appreciate @mikeisaac.bsky.social including me in this. [image]
Google worked VERY hard to make Google+ work, and it didn't, because it wasn't in its wheelhouse and Facebook was so strong. Threads feels like second nature for Meta, and Twitter is damaged. It might do quite well with way less effort. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Honestly, as twitter went down in flames and @jack was promoting rfk jr - i kind of missed google +. It had potential for a world where twitter is toxic. The circles feature is most like how i use lists and tweetdeck till it's gone. https://twitter.com/...
Have you ever read a book and thought, “this could have been an article”? Well, whenever I read a @MikeIsaac article, I think: “This should be a book.” https://twitter.com/...
@eric_seufert @anildash (as a smart friend pointed out, MSFT using its scale to force Teams onto everyone is a more current analogy but i liked the bill gates/Marc Andreessen comparisons since both are connected to Zuckerberg...)
time for a journey backwards in tech history! Threads is the most downloaded app ever. But tech companies using their scale to launch new apps isn't a guarantee of success. will Threads be a Google+, or Zuckerberg's Internet Explorer moment? https://www.nytimes.com/...
Google worked VERY hard to make Google+ work, and it didn't, because it wasn't in its wheelhouse and Facebook was so strong. Threads feels like second nature for Meta, and Twitter is damaged. It...
I hate to disagree with @mike_isaac, but this instance is nothing like Google+. 1.) Google was a search and not social company and one might posit that its execs — none of whom used social media at...
The NY Times can't help itself when it comes to hating on Meta. It's kinda cute how consistent they are. Even a successful product launch is a failure if you just spin the narrative hard enough😁.
The Google+ analogy feels like a low blow, but the reality is inevitably going to be somewhere between the hype and @mike_isaac's words of caution. Something new like this will spike as everyone...
Introducing Google Live Hangouts, a new real-time conversation space integrated into Google Meet, previously known as Hangouts Meet, which merged with Google Duo, which replaced Google Hangouts
the original point wasn't saying this is google plus — I think there are a lot of differences in product and how they implemented it that clearly aren't the same It was more “here are two ways that...