In the fast-evolving landscape of social media, the race to become the top alternative to Elon Musk’s platform, X, has intensified. Recent developments have seen Meta’s Threads and the nascent platform Bluesky vying for dominance, each introducing new features aimed at capturing the increasingly disenchanted user base of X.
Meta Responds to Bluesky’s Surge
Bluesky, a startup that gained traction after Musk acquired X and the election of Donald Trump, has been a beacon for users seeking a new social media haven. The platform has reportedly added a staggering 1 million users daily, a growth spurt that has put immense pressure on its 20 full-time employees to maintain server stability and content moderation.
Amid this surge, Meta has not sat idly by. The tech giant, which owns household names like Facebook and Instagram, has implemented a slew of tests, tweaks, and feature rollouts for Threads, its own contender against X. Threads, which launched in July 2023, has quickly become a hub for many former X users, amassing 275 million sign-ups to date.
“The race to replace Twitter has accelerated,” noted Jasmine Enberg, a senior analyst at eMarketer. While Bluesky’s user base is relatively smaller compared to Threads, its rapid growth signifies a burgeoning threat to Meta’s dominance in the social media sphere.
Feature Innovation: The Heart of Competition
In a strategic move, Threads introduced “custom feeds” this week, a direct nod to Bluesky’s user-centric approach that allows individuals to create and subscribe to personalized feeds. This feature is aimed at providing a more tailored social media experience, emphasizing connections with people users actively choose to follow rather than an algorithmically curated feed of content.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and Threads, underscored the shift, stating that the algorithm has been adjusted to “prioritize content from people you follow.” This adjustment not only aligns Threads more closely with Bluesky’s model but also moves it away from the strategies employed by Instagram Reels and TikTok, which predominantly push content from unfamiliar sources.
Meta’s History of Adaptation and Domination
Meta’s response to emerging competitors is not unprecedented. The company has historically adopted features popularized by its rivals—most notably, Instagram’s introduction of Stories and Reels, which were inspired by Snapchat and TikTok, respectively. This method of integrating popular innovations from other platforms has been part of Meta’s strategy to maintain its leading position in the social media market.
However, this approach has not been without controversy. Meta has faced criticism and legal scrutiny for its “copy-acquire-kill” tactics, which some argue stifle competition and innovation in the tech industry. A recent antitrust lawsuit has even proposed that Meta should be compelled to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, highlighting the ongoing debate over the company’s influence.
The Broader Implications of Social Media Competition
As Threads and Bluesky continue to evolve, they reflect a larger shift in the social media landscape—one where no single platform dominates as the de facto public square. This diversification, according to David Carroll, an associate professor at Parsons School of Design, is refreshing, as it allows new entrants to challenge incumbents and potentially reshape the social media ecosystem.
Moreover, the contrast in political climates and user preferences underscores the dynamic nature of platform popularity. Bhaskar Chakravorti from the Fletcher School at Tufts University notes that the rise of Bluesky and similar platforms may partly be a response to the political slant of X, mirroring earlier shifts in platform dynamics following political events.
