How Zuckerberg created and marketed the ‘perfect’ product

Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter alternative, Threads, has surpassed 100 million users in less than five days. Compare that to Instagram, which took two and a half years to reach this milestone, and Tiktok, which took nine months. When ChatGPT was released, it reached 100 million in two months. It was all the rage. Threads broke these records.

Threads was released as a competitor to Twitter (something Meta didn't try too hard to hide), which took two years to reach just 1 million users. So, Threads has reached 100 times the number of users in less than 0.7 percent of the time.

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Can Threads replace Twitter in the social media landscape?

It's definitely a feat, but perhaps one that is not too surprising. Let's look at the bad decisions, opportune timing and hype capitalising that went into making Threads skyrocket. Threads is a microblogging app, but you probably already know that.

And if you're on Instagram, you're probably tired of seeing all the "find me on Threads!" stories. So, why are all your friends joining Threads?

Elon Musk took over Twitter in October last year, and the app has gone downhill ever since, at least according to most of its users. Before Threads was launched, people were already complaining about how Musk "ruined" Twitter. Musk took over Twitter promising more free speech on the platform. He brought back banned, far-right Twitter accounts such as Jordan Peterson and Donald Trump. Many users complained about an increase in hate speech after Musk's takeover.

None of these issues affected me at first; I mostly used Twitter to post pointless memes and react to my friend's equally pointless memes and existential-crisis-inducing shower thoughts. But then, Twitter became infested with bots. Every day a bot added me to a large group chat offering me "jobs" or adult content. I reported them every time, but the next day another group chat would pop up.

Musk also introduced "Twitter Blue," perhaps one of his most unpopular decisions after taking control of the platform. Twitter Blue makes a shiny blue tick mark appear on your profile (a feature over 400K users were willing to pay for at the beginning). Blue users can view up to 10,000 tweets a day. Non verified users can view up to 1000 tweets a day. Additionally, new users who just registered and are unverified can view only up to 500 tweets. 

Frustration built up over Musk's handling of Twitter and his attempts to turn it into a paid platform… and that is when Zuckerberg decided to strike. On June 20, Musk tweeted that he'd be "up for a cage match" with Zuckerberg. A day later, Zuckerberg responded with "Send Me Location." This billionaire brawl caught the internet's attention. The spotlight was on Zuckerberg and Musk. And Zuckerberg made sure to capitalise on it.

On July 6th, Threads was released. Instagram users were notified through the app of the new microblogging platform, the "Twitter Killer." The enthusiasm about the billionaires' cage fight morphed into a fascination over Threads vs Twitter. And Meta made it oh-so-easy to open an account.

You do need to have an Instagram account to be on Threads at the moment, but registering is extremely easy because of it. You can import your profile picture, bio and other details from Instagram.

The best bit? You can also import your followers.

If you already have a Threads account, all your followers on Instagram who sign up for Threads will automatically be following you. Furthermore, Threads doesn't show how many people you're following – only how many follow you, which encourages mass-following (with the hope that some will follow you back) and increases engagement on the platform.

There's a caveat here, though. Say you have 100 followers. 50 followers signed up on Threads before you opened an account. Then, you followed the hype and made your Threads account. And then, your other 50 followers open Threads. You will automatically get 50 followers – the ones who signed after you did, but not the ones before. So, if you don't register for Threads as soon as possible, you'll miss out on automatic followers who get on the app before you (Tech Youtuber Mrwhosetheboss said that if he'd set up his Threads account 8 hours before he actually had, he would have gotten over 50, 000 more followers.)

So, Meta set up Threads to give you massive FOMO (fear of missing out) if you don't sign up as soon as possible. Here's another way how you get numbered for how quickly you register for your Threads account, and the number stays with you permanently (a bit like getting ranked in a race). People rushed to be the first 1 million on the app, then the first 10 million, and so on. Then, when you're on the app, you'll likely feel right at home. Visually, the app looks a lot like Twitter, with some design elements of Instagram – a clever strike from Mark Zuckerberg. And since all of your friends are already there, Threads' novelty and homeliness mix together to give you the optimal experience.

Will the hype surrounding it last? I think so, because Zuckerberg made the perfect product at the perfect time, and marketed it flawlessly.

But if Threads does indeed replace Twitter, Zuckerberg will have 3 of the most popular social media apps under his belt, making him more powerful than ever. And that's something we need to look out for.

Zaheen Tasfia Zuhair is a student at BUP and a volunteer at InclusionX. She can be reached at zaheenzuhair@gmail.com