Of course it is still too early to make a definitive call, but we said it from the beginning: Just because you have the money and a plug-in audience, doesn’t mean your copy of X (formerly known as Twitter) is going to be a success.
Yes, we are talking about Zuckerberg’s Threads – a Twitter copy through and through. Just as how it ended for Google Plus some years back, our bet is that a large dose of humility is on the way for the Facebook founder.
After a strong start – which wasn’t actually a strong start but just a bunch of people willing to test it out – Meta’s Threads saw a massive drop off in user numbers.
What’s the takeaway here? Well, assuming this falls flat, which again is our bet, the reality is this: You cannot just copy an idea and expect to have an easy win. Twitter did not evolve over night, and it is much more than just a tech platform – it is a movement, much like Facebook is. Social media movements in particular are often mysteries in terms of how they come about. That is, there is no textbook formula here.