Meta, previously known as Facebook, had a perfect storm opportunity. While Elon Musk was effectively killing Twitter real time and forcing most of his users and advertisers to look for alternatives, Facebook quickly surfaced Threads and immediately captured 100M users, showcasing that if Zuckerberg had just fully funded this service, Threads would have most, if not all, of Twitter\u2019s old revenue stream.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sadly, Zuckerberg once again didn\u2019t execute quickly. There is still time to correct this mistake. If not, Threads is likely to fail. Let\u2019s talk about what Zuckerberg and Meta did wrong and how they might correct it before Threads follows Myspace into obscurity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
To replace any service, you must not only convince current users to leave their old service (something Musk has been very good at doing at Twitter and even changing the name so the site looks like a Port site), but you must also create a place for them to land that is very similar to what Twitter provides. Twitter has things like hashtags and its platform runs on both mobile and PC platforms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg left out anything like a hashtag and he rolled the application out on mobile platforms only, even though those of us that were posting on Twitter most of the time generally did so off our work PC, largely because it\u2019s easier to post links and interact with something that is running on the same platform that you are working from.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone at Facebook must not have realized how many Twitter users used PCs to interact with the service. There is a workaround to install it on a PC<\/a>, but it isn\u2019t for the faint of heart. Threads didn\u2019t really need a PC app. Theyt could have just put up a web interface and that would have been fine. Given Facebook has a massive and successful web presence, you\u2019d think they\u2019d at least have a web interface for Threads, but they don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ideally, Threads should have been subordinate to Facebook, Meta\u2019s more popular app, and not Instagram which hasn\u2019t been doing as well. Even getting Threads to work is somewhat problematic because it uses your Instagram password but, if you use Facebook to log into Instagram (which I did), getting Threads to accept the Facebook password was a problem. I got in, but it was neither quick nor easy, suggesting Meta\u2019s human factor folks either weren\u2019t engaged or they don\u2019t really know what they are doing (I\u2019d bet the former).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n You must also market the new service so that negatives, which will always exist in a switch because you can\u2019t just clone Twitter, don\u2019t become a major impediment to people becoming familiar with the service.\u00a0 It continues to amaze me that a service like Facebook or Threads that lives off ad revenue doesn\u2019t know how to market its own products. I should be seeing things on Facebook that would pull me to Threads, but I don\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Wrapping up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Threads could have and might still (it isn\u2019t dead yet and Musk continues to upset Twitter users) displace Twitter like Facebook displaced Myspace years ago. However, a failure to execute, market and assure the success of Threads has all but destroyed this opportunity. To be truly successful Threads needs to be easier to join, it needs to be marketed until it gets to a sustained critical mass, and it needs to be far more like what Twitter was to capture and hold a large audience.<\/p>\n Fortunately, Musk continues to motivate Twitter users to leave, so Zuckerberg has some time to fix his alternative. But if he continues to fail to execute, this will simply continue to showcase that Zuckerberg is a one-trick wonder who gained his position mostly by luck rather than skill and who hasn\u2019t learned enough yet to create successful new offerings that can capture and hold a large audience.\u00a0 It is sad to watch because, like most of you, I wanted Threads to work because I\u2019m fed up with Musk. But Zuckerberg just couldn\u2019t step up enough to make it happen yet. I hope that Threads doesn\u2019t become the next Myspace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meta, previously known as Facebook, had a perfect storm opportunity. While Elon Musk was effectively killing Twitter real time and forcing most of his users and advertisers to look for alternatives, Facebook quickly surfaced Threads and immediately captured 100M users, … Continue reading
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\nSource: TG Daily – Why Meta\u2019s Threads Is Failing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"