Mark Zuckerberg's Threads is a fad that won't last, tech analyst predicts: 'I'd rather eat broccoli for the full day than be on Threads'
Grace KayJul 12, 2023, 11:58 AM EDT
Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said he doesn't think the frenzy around Meta's new Threads app will last. Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- Interest in Meta's Threads app won't last, Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said.
- The analyst said he'd rather "eat broccoli for the full day" than use the Twitter rival.
- The app will have to change its news feed and address concerns about censorship to stay relevant, Ives said.
"I don't view this as a Twitter killer," Ives told Insider. "I see this more as a short-lived fad with those moving to Threads," he said, adding that he sees Thread's main point of interest as the "anti-Musk, anti-Twitter sentiment."
Discontent with how Elon Musk has handled content moderation and censorship at Twitter since taking over in October has been ever-present, and other text-based apps like BlueSky have appeared to get a boost in interest as a result of the anti-Musk sentiment. But, it might not be enough to keep users hooked.
The tech analyst said in a previous interview with Yahoo Finance that he'd "rather eat broccoli for the full day than be on Threads" after experimenting with the app for about six to seven hours.
Ives told Insider he believes user engagement on Mark Zuckerberg's new text-based app will drop "significantly" in the next few months unless the company finds a way to address its "Instagram-like" news feed and concerns about censorship on the app. He added that its "G-rated content" will make it difficult to compete with Twitter.
Earlier this week, Threads hit 100 million users only five days after its initial release. Zuckerberg has said the company is focused on "kindness and making this a friendly place." Meanwhile, Musk has said he finds it "infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram."
Ultimately, the competing apps have pitted the two billionaires against each other, bringing their decade-long rivalry to a head. The two men have even talked of settling their differences in a cage match, but Musk's biographer, Walter Isaacson, said last week that he thinks it's much more likely the two men will battle it out by seeing which social media company will eventually triumph.
https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-threads-popularity-wont-last-analyst-dan-ives-2023-7
