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Threads, Meta’s competitor to X, has officially been out for one year. At its launch, swaths of people made the jump from X to Threads, but I never made an account. I stopped using Twitter five years ago, so I never felt the need to join another similar social media platform, among other reasons.
1There Are Too Many Social Media Sites
I have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. This year, I’ve added screen time settings to avoid scrolling social media constantly. With this extra time, I’ve been able to watch TV, read more, and experience life outside of a small screen.
2I See the Same Content on Other Social Media Platforms
The rare times I scroll through my explore page on Instagram, I see screenshots and reposts of content from X, Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit. Because Instagram offers both text and photo posts, I can see the same types of content on one social media platform. Threads does not offer that unique of a platform or content to justify another social media account.
3I Missed the Initial Hype
At the launch of Threads a year ago, people were saying Threads would be the downfall of X. One year later, X is still hanging on. Some people, like myself, simply ditched X and didn’t want a replacement, either.
I’m sure Threads had great engagement at launch, but people’s overall activity seems to have dipped on the app. Some creators who initially made the switch to Threads have since decreased or even stopped their activity on the platform.
4It’s Too Tempting to Doomscroll
Years ago, I would spend hours on Twitter doomscrolling. It was easy to do this because of the former character limit. The content was quick and easy to read, maximizing the time you could scroll across Twitter. There were also great pockets of Twitter, like some stan areas, that have since become toxic and a place to simply disengage from. Once getting involved with Threads, the same might happen.
5None of My Friends or Family Use Threads
Because Instagram is linked to Threads, there are a few people who I follow who also have accounts. However, it’s mostly people I rarely (if ever) speak with. I use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to keep in touch with some family and close friends, so Threads doesn’t offer that same close-knit aspect.
6Threads Isn’t as Big as Other Platforms
Threads currently has 190 million users. While this may seem like a lot, this is small compared to Facebook’s nearly 3 billion users and Instagram’s 2.4 billion users. X boasts about double the number of users as Threads at 360 million. Threads pales in comparison to other social media giants, so it doesn’t seem like it’s worth making another account.
I can see virtually the same content across the plethora of other social media websites, so it makes sense why some people won’t make the jump. If you’re still on the fence about whether to join, here arefour more reasons to avoid Threads. Alternatively, if you want to replace X in your life, we’ve comparedThreads and Mastodon to determine which is best.
While Threads seemed like a good replacement for X a year ago, the demand seems to have dwindled. I can find similar content on sites like Facebook and Instagram that have more active users and broader features. As Threads is only a year old, it could grow in the future (or drop off). Time will tell.
