By now, you've probably heard that Meta launched a new microblogging platform. Threads, which looks to be a direct competitor to Twitter, has already managed to grab over 100 million users in just a few days. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the key features that set these two social media giants apart.
Break Reminders
Break Reminders are a new feature you'll find only in Threads at the moment. You can use them to set notifications that alert you once you've spent a specific amount of time in the app. This is ideal for people who need a little help limiting their daily screen time.
Here’s a tutorial that shows you how to set up Break Reminders.
Direct Messages (DMs)
DMs are used by many social media platforms, which is why you might be surprised to hear that Threads doesn't have them. Unlike Twitter, where users can send DMs to one another as a way of private messaging, Threads appears to have left that functionality out, for now at least.
Image Downloads
Another notable difference between these two apps is the ability to download images. Twitter users have had this functionality for a while. Threads, however, doesn't allow it. This may or may not have something to do with the app's connection to Instagram, which also doesn’t allow image downloads.
Trends
Most Twitter users will be familiar with the trend table. It shows up on the search page and helps you discover topics that are growing in popularity. Threads, on the other hand, doesn't seem to utilize trends and instead leaves discovery up to you.
Like Count Visibility
Most social media platforms include some way of promoting or endorsing another user's post, often by way of likes. On Threads, you can choose to show or hide the number of likes your posts get. A decision that many other platforms don't leave up to the user, including Twitter.
Learn how to hide your like count on Threads with this tutorial.
Spaces
Spaces are a key feature of Twitter. Often used to host Q&A sessions, interviews, and a variety of other public discussions, Spaces enable users to have live audio conversations with one another in the app. Something Threads doesn't offer right now.
Web Versions
Web Versions allow users to access a platform through a web browser in addition to the application itself, which is often downloaded on a mobile device. Right now, Twitter is the only one with a Web Version. That means Threads users can only access the app by downloading it directly from an app store.
Creator Compensations
Twitter recently rolled out its first batch of ad revenue payments to users, marking a major milestone in the platform's new direction. Creator Compensation is something Threads doesn't address at the moment. Though looking at the other platforms under Meta's umbrella, the likes of Facebook and Instagram alone give evidence that it may come.
Summary
Threads has made an impressive splash into the social media space. It’s hard to tell which app will come out on top, but the coming months will likely be crucial in terms of winning over more users.
If you want to learn more about Threads, check out this help desk we made. It includes a variety of tutorials that cover account setup, posting, notifications, and more.
