Threads is the trendy app and is not for less. Just over a day after landing in the app stores, Meta’s new social network surpassed 70 million registered users, becoming one of the most successful releases of the company. Although it is clear that Threads is a blatant copy of Twitter, its creators They have no intention of replacing Elon Musk’s social network.
In a series of interactions with various journalists, Adam Mosseri, director of Instagram, explained what his goal is and why we haven’t seen more news or political discussions on Threads. The executive mentioned that they seek to create a place for those who have never adopted Twitter, so they will bet on categories that can turn the social network into a vibrant platform.
“The goal is not to replace Twitter. The goal is to create a public square for communities on Instagram that have never adopted Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less fiery place for conversations, but not all of Twitter,” Mosseri said. “Inevitably, big news and politics will show up on Threads (they’ve done it on Instagram to some degree as well), but we’re not going to do anything to encourage those verticals,” he said.
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If you have wondered why you see more influencers saying good morning or sharing photos on your feed, it is because Threads does not want to take the place of Twitter as a public square to report on the latest happenings in the world.
The idea of ignoring politics has not gone down well with some journalists who have left Elon Musk’s Twitter behind. Taylor Lorenz of Washington Post, questioned Mosseri for the decision, ensuring that “you cannot create a public square where you are discouraged from talking about news or politics.”
Given this, the director of Instagram replied that they won’t discourage or demean the news, they just won’t give it the same importance than in the past. “To be honest, we were quick to overpromise the industry on Facebook in the early 2010s, and it would be wrong to repeat that,” he said.
Mosseri is aware that politics and news will find their way to Threads sooner or later, but they have no intention of getting involved or speeding up the process. “There are more than enough amazing communities (sports, music, fashion, beauty, entertainment, etc.) to generate a vibrant platform without needing to get into politics or major news,” he mentioned.
Why Meta and Adam Mosseri don’t care about the news
Meta has long distanced itself from the news and Adam Mosseri is a key player in this strategy. Before taking the direction of Instagram, Mosseri was responsible for the news feed on Facebook. One of the most dramatic changes occurred in early 2018, when Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would prioritize people’s posts over news or Page content.
At the time, Adam Mosseri explained that the algorithm would predict which posts you’d like to engage with and push them to the top of the feed. Comments, questions or requests for recommendations would have a higher rating than a page sharing a news item. The adjustment caused a break between Facebook and the media and businesses that had their pagessince it affected them in a considerable way.
With all of the above, it is normal that Meta is not interested in returning to the old practices and prefers that Twitter take over the controversy.