For the past decade and change, nothing has driven faster, smarter, global conversations like Twitter. However, shifting winds are now steering millions away from Elon Musk’s platform and toward Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads.
Text interactions are the primary focus of both systems, but the disparity in additional features is undeniably bigger. Let’s take a short look at the distinctions.
On paper, Twitter will have an advantage over Threads, but most of this advantage can be due to age rather than anything else. Glitches and problems are likely to arise and be worked out along the way. Furthermore, because the environment is still highly volatile in 2023, several of the characteristics we outline here may not be in place by the time you read this. UiTVConnect may provide coverage when events warrant, so bookmark us for updates.
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What features do Threads and Twitter have in common?
Both mostly trade in text posts on social media. You can include photographs, GIFs, and videos in your tweet or thread, but we’re mostly interested in the content. You can chain many postings together to make your argument. You add posts to your home screen by following individuals.
By clicking the heart icon beneath each post, you can “like” or “favorite” other users’ posts as well as your own. You can also “repost” or “retweet” posts made by others by clicking the symbol with the crazy arrows. These “quote posts” or “quote tweets” can be posted as is or with additional commentary and media.
On Twitter and Threads, you can prohibit certain users from viewing your posts or choose to mute posts from specific persons. Other users can also be reported. On each site, you may restrict who can respond to your postings; possibilities include everyone, people you follow, and only people you mention.
Twitter has had a verified user program for a long time, but Meta, the owner of Instagram, which runs Threads, only recently activated it. You may currently pay $8 per month as part of Twitter Blue or $14.99 per month on Instagram to receive a checkmark emblem on your profile that ostensibly says you are who you claim you are.
Major Difference between Twitter and Threads
- Threads’ most noticeable omission at this juncture is the lack of a full-fledged web client. When you visit the threads.net site, you can only browse postings. Twitter.com supports full interactions, such as liking and retweeting. It’s unclear whether this is by design, but we expect Threads to be fully operational once it catches up.
- On Twitter, free users are limited to 240 characters each post, while Thread users are limited to 500. Similarly, Videos on Twitter are limited to 512MB and up to 2 minutes, 20 seconds, while Threads raise the limit to 5 minutes.
- For the longest time, hashtags have been central to the Twitter experience. They allow you to follow posts about a trend that don’t necessarily employ the trend’s lingo or keywords. On Threads, you can add a pound sign in front of a #word, but you can’t search for them – the search tool is solely for locating other users.
- Twitter’s home screen features two feeds: an algorithm-driven “For you” feed and a purely chronological feed named “Following.” There is currently only one feed on Threads, and it displays posts in a non-linear sequence, including posts and replies from individuals you follow. This results in your feed being flooded with original content from people you don’t know.
Other key advantages that Twitter has over Threads are:
- Lists are user-curated feeds that allow you to follow groups of individuals such as relatives, friends, or people who share an interest.
- Bookmarks enable easy access to specific favorite messages.
- Twitter Blue is a subscription service that unlocks numerous premium features.
Twitter’s network contains advertising buying and placement tools. Threads may have similar mechanisms in the future, but that is not the case right now. Threads also do not have an API that allows third-party developers to construct their own apps that use data from the Threads platform. Twitter has user data APIs, but your amount of access is determined by how much you pay – in some situations, up to $5,000 per month.
Meta’s network impact is a less tangible advantage for Threads. Even if it is currently only available to Instagram users in the United States, having an easy way to sign up allows those millions and millions of individuals to simply join. It took Twitter years to get to where it is now. With that many eyes on it, Meta will be anxious to get ads up and running once the business has gotten Threads to the point where people are passionate about it. If you blink, you can miss a critical move that might upset momentum.
