Twitter’s New Rival Threads: 7 Key Implications for the EdTech Industry

The emergence of Threads, a potential competitor to Twitter, has sparked interest and raised questions about its impact on the social media landscape. As businesses in the EdTech industry, such as DashLabs, it is essential to closely examine the differences between these platforms and understand how they can influence our work.

In this blog post, we delve into seven distinct differences and explore their significance for the EdTech industry:

1. Account Management
2. Access & Availability
3. Costs
4. Verification Approach
5. Content 
6. Engagement
7. Messaging 

1. Account Management:

Threads is closely tied to Instagram, allowing users to sign in using their Instagram credentials. Upon login, users are prompted to import their Instagram profile details and follow the same users they follow on Instagram. In contrast, Twitter operates independently, enabling users to create an account using their preferred credentials. However, it’s worth noting that deleting a Threads account requires deleting the associated Instagram account, which may be an inconvenience.

2. Access & Availability:

While Twitter is accessible through both website and app versions, Threads is currently exclusive to mobile devices. Threads’ app-only approach suggests a focus on mobile experiences, as Instagram’s website has limited functionality. This difference in availability highlights the unique strategies each platform adopts to engage users.

3. Costs

Threads is free to download and use, with no hidden features behind paywalls. On the other hand, Twitter offers a subscription-based model called “Twitter Blue” that provides additional features for paying members. Twitter Blue’s subscription fee allows access to features like tweet editing, customizable app icons, and increased tweet reading limits.

4. Verification Approach:

Threads inherits verification from Instagram, meaning that if a user is verified on Instagram, they will be verified on Threads as well. Twitter’s verification process is more intricate, with guidelines based on public standing. Additionally, Twitter Blue subscribers can purchase a verification badge, while government accounts and established organizations have their own unique verification processes.

5. Content & Sharing

Both Threads and Twitter serve as platforms for sharing short messages, but Threads allows for longer posts with a character limit of 500, surpassing Twitter’s 280-character limit. While this distinction might not significantly impact Twitter users who have mastered brevity, it offers more flexibility for expressive content creation on Threads.

There are notable differences in multimedia content between Threads and Twitter. Both platforms support website links, videos, and images. However, Threads requires users to save GIFs to their camera roll before posting, while Twitter allows direct posting of GIFs. Threads enables users to share more images and videos per post, with a limit of 10 items compared to Twitter’s limit of four items per tweet.

6. Engagement:

Both Threads and Twitter offer similar engagement features, including likes, comments, reposts, and quoting. Threads displays expanded comments upon clicking on a post, allowing users to reply to the original message or respond to specific comments. Twitter provides similar functionality, along with a dedicated Likes tab on users’ profile pages to view past likes.

Content discovery varies between Threads and Twitter. On Twitter, users can curate their post feed through various settings, including a “For you” feed with suggested posts and a “Following” feed displaying posts exclusively from followed accounts. Threads presents a singular feed, merging content from followed accounts with trending posts, resembling the main Instagram feed merged with the Discover page. Twitter offers more robust search capabilities, allowing users to search for recent and relevant posts based on keywords, while Threads limits search functionality to finding accounts only.

7. Messaging:

Twitter includes in-app messaging, enabling users to communicate with other users via text, images, GIFs, and voice messages. Threads, on the other hand, currently lacks in-app messaging features. Sharing a Thread with someone via text is possible, but within the app, users can only tag others in the comment section. For messaging Threads users, reaching out through Instagram DMs is currently the best option.

Please note that this list provides a simplified overview of the key categories and may not cover every aspect of the platforms. For a deep-dive description, see the content to the right and remain abreast as this app continues to evolve with time.