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Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

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Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#71
post #35

I think if we were to see an X killer I’d much sooner predict Substack does it. I was sleeping on Substack a bit but it has many of the positive qualities of Twitter with many of the downsides removed: * Notes are a short form platform but Substack itself is more long form centric. A huge problem of Twitter was excessive short form creates emphasis on snappy talking points over substance, but Substack more naturally…

It is akin to saying doubling down on 2-hour in-depth content will help YouTube beat TikTok. The clientele isn't looking for long form articles and deeply researched nuanced content, they want a quick dopamine feed and want to move on next.

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#72
Huge X reader, actually used it more since Elon took it over and even more after reading the bio. One of the best things to come out for American democracy. Very clear he is being targeted especially after the ridiculous Delaware ruling.

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#74
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would be a bad idea to pull Twitter users who don't like or use Instagram. You're unnecessarily combining to disparate social apps.

They did this by bringing the IG network to Threads. Social networks are the networks not the features.

Disagree. The type of people that like Instagram won't just arbitrarily start using threads which appeals to different audience. In that sense we will see if demand for a new twitter can just be created out of the user-base of Instagram. I have my doubts.

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#75
After the presidential election in Taiwan earlier this month, many important political figures (current president, next president, opposition leaders, A LOT OF parliament members...) suddenly got on Threads and started posting there actively. Their followers naturally also followed them there.

As for the reason... I still don't understand why lol

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#76
post #35

I think if we were to see an X killer I’d much sooner predict Substack does it. I was sleeping on Substack a bit but it has many of the positive qualities of Twitter with many of the downsides removed: * Notes are a short form platform but Substack itself is more long form centric. A huge problem of Twitter was excessive short form creates emphasis on snappy talking points over substance, but Substack more naturally…

It is akin to saying doubling down on 2-hour in-depth content will help YouTube beat TikTok. The clientele isn't looking for long form articles and deeply researched nuanced content, they want a quick dopamine feed and want to move on next.

Not really, it's akin to saying Youtube Shorts will help Youtube beat TikTok, as both Youtube Shorts and Substack Notes are the short-form version of their product.

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is this is tightly coupled with Instagram which is one of the most active networks already and they can easily cross pollinate the two for a long time and keep sucking up people who get fed up with Twitter.

How is it tightly coupled with Instagram?

Threads shows up in your feed.

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#78
post #21
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most obvious answer is people who can't stand Tucker Carlson or Alex Jones types. Lots of high profile political accounts have moved over from X. In the politics vein, lots of Ukrainian and Ukraine watchers as well, oddly enough. Aside from that, some machine learning accounts are pretty decent and have a growing community. - my 2¢

This may be a dumb question, but wouldn't one only see that content if they engage with it or follow people who engage with it?

You would think so, but it sure feels like all of the ad slots in my feed are almost always inundated with promoted posts from random rage-baiters on the right. I even muted "Trump" and a bunch of other politics-talk and still see it daily through ads.

Add to the fact that X is also trialing ads that don't get labeled as ads [1] (and just get promoted to your stream as if they're a normal post, but still have the "Why am I seeing this ad?" etc context menu), and it seems like there's more and more avenues every day for content to creep into your feed whether you interact with it or not.

[1] https://adguard.com/en/blog/twitter-x-ads-unlabelled-musk.ht...

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#79
post #33

Twitter isn't focused on being a microblogging platform anymore, and X has a branding problem worse than that papa John's guy, John Schnatter. I like mastodon, but it has been described as going to a quiet restaurant only to be handed a meat cleaver and an oven. Bluesky's interface is clunky, slow by comparison. It is run by Jack Dorsey who, bless his good intentions, doesn't inspire faith in his management of a good…

> I like mastodon, but it has been described as going to a quiet restaurant only to be handed a meat cleaver and an oven.

I like how a non-algo'd website is now basically being described as a massive pain

Re: Instagram Threads triples downloads in December, reaching top; X falls to #36

#80
post #8
post #6

i am way more curious about threads than any of the other social media networks simply because i use ig quite a bit and they do a good job of surfacing threads posts in your ig feed

Threads is Facebook. To me, the more interesting one to watch is Bluesky.

Exactly. It is still Facebook (again). The controversies and problems that once happened on Facebook, Instagram, etc will happen on Threads.

Bluesky is more of a better solution in the long run.

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