Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours • Hacker News Board

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#121

Post by s3p » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:16 AM UTC

dvt wrote: post #7

That feels oddly low. It was released at 5ish PM PST on a Wednesday, and considering they have literally all of Instagram + Facebook's userbase to push it on, it seems pretty low. The "sign up" was also just a "log in with FB/Instagram" button where the form was already auto-filled. So it's not like people had to convert, it's pretty much about as pure a product-market-fit test you can get. Discoverability is also pr…

>Discoverability is also pretty awful with a ton of cringe influencer content polluting my main feed

Give them some slack. Twitter wasn't fully polished two hours after initial release. You need to give them some time to fine tune their algos and come up with new features. My bet is they will soon develop an explore page similar to Twitter's, and will give users options to tailor their home feed.

I think yours is a very critical take for a company that pushed out an MVP two hours ago.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#122

Post by asadotzler » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:16 AM UTC

mullingitover wrote: post #111

Called it [1]. Threads is wildly feature-incomplete, but there's so much demand for a twitter alternative that this is an embarrassingly one-sided product fight. For a 0.0.1-alpha version to steamroll into the space like this, it's now just a matter of the long goodbye for twitter as it becomes a space where you go to find someone's Threads handle. I give it 24 hours, tops, until it eclipses the entire Fediverse, and…

Neither of your predictions are at all surprising or interesting. The fediverse and Bluesky are tiny. It'd be an absolute Joke if FB couldn't double their size in a day or two.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#123

Post by impulser_ » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:17 AM UTC

hospitalJail wrote: post #83

I'm amazed that people are willing to give facebook another try. Facebook filled our lives with rage-bait. (Not even going to touch the elections manip) They took over instagram and removed the time based sorting with their algorithm. So fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, you can't get fooled again.

> I'm amazed that people are willing to give facebook another try.

Wait until you realize billions of people still use Facebook and Instagram daily.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#124

Post by Despegar » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:17 AM UTC

poomer wrote: post #87

I'm very skeptical that this will succeed. As with other extremely hyped social medias (anyone remember Clubhouse?) it's already filled with influencers and e-celebs trying to get in early, but these people always poison the well with insincere, low-quality, monetization-oriented content. AFAIK, every successful social media platform grew more or less organically and only had these folks latch on later (usually causi…

Bluesky is the only one that feels like early Twitter

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#125

Post by s3p » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:18 AM UTC

joegahona wrote: post #112

jacooper wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything is better than twitter at this point.

Well there’s plenty to choose from. Threads, Mastodon, Substack Notes, Post.News, Bluesky, and all the tangential copycats (Nostr, Spill, T2 Social, Truth Social, Hive). We have to be reaching oversaturation in this space. I really wonder if all these projects are misjudging the appetite for a Twitter replacement.

In reality I think the need for a Twitter competitor was never stronger. Bluesky didn't catch on, they're not even out of private beta. Mastodon is riddled with issues that prevent it from reaching the mainstream. At present, Meta has the only product with the reach and scale capable of rivaling twitter. Even if you think the alternatives are "good enough", it doesn't matter because no one is using them. This will be different.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#126

Post by jacooper » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:18 AM UTC

h1t35h wrote: post #96

I understand the push to use the app for collecting my data for ads and what not but good lord is it too difficult to keep the web channels open? Why is this not available on browser :(

Supposedly "coming soon"

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#127

Post by afavour » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:18 AM UTC

Turskarama wrote: post #109

afavour wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m amazed they didn’t provide a feed of only people you follow. Not doing so made the garbage influencer stuff inevitable.

Showing you more content you're not interested in is how they get you to scroll past more ads, it's how they make money. Traditionally they don't need to care about showing you good content to keep you interested, you're generally logging in anyway. The proof is in the pudding: if you want a curated feed go to Tumblr or Mastodon. These spaces exist yet they're significantly less mainstream.

> if you want a curated feed go to Tumblr or Mastodon. These spaces exist yet they're significantly less mainstream.

Why would we ignore the very mainstream Instagram as an example?

> you're generally logging in anyway.

When an app is established, sure. But providing new users a shitty experience in order to prioritise revenue is how new social networks fail.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#128

Post by qbasic_forever » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:18 AM UTC

poomer wrote: post #87

I'm very skeptical that this will succeed. As with other extremely hyped social medias (anyone remember Clubhouse?) it's already filled with influencers and e-celebs trying to get in early, but these people always poison the well with insincere, low-quality, monetization-oriented content. AFAIK, every successful social media platform grew more or less organically and only had these folks latch on later (usually causi…

OTOH Twitter is actively imploding and a toxic place for corporate comms and brands, marketing, etc. A meta/FB/Instagram alternative is exactly what those entities want to move towards and rapidly exit the sinking Twitter/Elon ship. I think it's going to do well.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#129

Post by s3p » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:19 AM UTC

asadotzler wrote: post #122

mullingitover wrote: post #111

Called it [1]. Threads is wildly feature-incomplete, but there's so much demand for a twitter alternative that this is an embarrassingly one-sided product fight. For a 0.0.1-alpha version to steamroll into the space like this, it's now just a matter of the long goodbye for twitter as it becomes a space where you go to find someone's Threads handle. I give it 24 hours, tops, until it eclipses the entire Fediverse, and…

Neither of your predictions are at all surprising or interesting. The fediverse and Bluesky are tiny. It'd be an absolute Joke if FB couldn't double their size in a day or two.

Useless criticism. It didn't seem like they were trying to amaze or surprise anyone with that comment.

Re: Threads has passed 2M sign ups in the first 2 hours

#130

Post by melling » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 2:19 AM UTC

poomer wrote: post #87

I'm very skeptical that this will succeed. As with other extremely hyped social medias (anyone remember Clubhouse?) it's already filled with influencers and e-celebs trying to get in early, but these people always poison the well with insincere, low-quality, monetization-oriented content. AFAIK, every successful social media platform grew more or less organically and only had these folks latch on later (usually causi…

yes, that’s usually the first thing people say. It’s easy to be skeptical. The odds are often in the skeptics favor.

Personally, I don’t see any value in debating it.

Here’s a classic article explaining why Apple opening retail stores will never work.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2001-05-20/commentar...

My advice: Skip the worthless debate.