Now threading
It seems Elon Musk had a tough week. Just days after he earned the ire of online users by limiting the number of tweets they could view each day, Meta introduced Threads: a text-based platform that is nearly identical to Twitter. As of yesterday, Threads already had over 70 million sign-ups. The huge buzz around the new app even seemed to have caught the attention of much older users. My Aunt, who is in her late 60s, asked my cousins how she could set up her Threads account because she wants to support and help it succeed “just to teach Elon a lesson on his greediness.”
It almost feels strange to write about Meta, Threads’ parent company which also owns Facebook and Instagram, in the context of an internet hero. For the past few years, the company has faced intense heat for its platforms’ role in amplifying false news, causing political polarization, and promoting harmful content that has led to grave offline repercussions. In 2021, leaked internal documents called The Facebook Papers revealed how some of the early efforts of employees to bring attention to the app’s problematic algorithms were met with inaction. It also brought to light an off-book review process that permitted certain high-profile users to keep their posts up, despite being in clear violation of community standards.
For now, it seems that Threads’ current simple interface and wholesome culture—with the clean slate evoking nostalgia for the early and purer days of online blogging—is enough to distract people from these concerns. It would be naive to think however that this saccharine and idyllic version of Threads is destined to last forever. Wherever conversations happen, disagreements are bound to arise. And just like in every other social media platform, not everyone will practice common decency or adhere to factual accuracy. As Meta adds another territory to its online kingdom, the company also needs to demonstrate that it has the capacity to effectively handle the responsibility that comes with the power to shape public discourse on such a massive scale. When it comes to issues of online safety, it simply cannot afford to respond too slowly.
In the case of Threads, the app mirrors Instagram’s approach to regulating content and interaction within the platform. Whereas Twitter in the Elon Musk era has been more welcoming of personalities with radical-leaning views, users who try to follow Threads accounts with a track record of posting false information are met with a precautionary message. Questionable posts are also censored with a blurred box and a warning that the thread contains false information that had been flagged by independent checkers. It is also worth noting that Meta set up a separate oversight board: an independent group of experts and civic leaders who have been given the mandate to review and decide on certain content moderation issues to help the company “balance free speech and safety.” Whether the committee will make a significant impact in addressing Meta’s longstanding challenges in regulating online speech has yet to be seen, but several of its decisions on cases as well as recommendations on how to correct past omissions have been commended by critics as a step in the right direction.
What Meta might also want to consider is how Threads presents new opportunities for the platform to show support for local journalism. Last week, the Online News Act had been passed in Canada which mandates compensation for publishers whenever social media companies share their content—an initiative that California seems to be keen on replicating. In response, both Meta and Google announced that they will just remove Canadian news content from their platforms. Given this landscape, Threads could strengthen the company’s relationship with news organizations in other markets by offering specific features that would foster a more symbiotic relationship with media organizations. After all, one reason why it is so difficult for many people to leave Twitter is because it has become a convenient up-to-the-minute source of news. Collaborating closely with reputable news outlets could serve the dual purpose of showing the company’s commitment to advancing the cause of journalism and upholding media integrity while fortifying Threads’ position as a platform for reliable and real-time news updates.
Only time will tell how Threads will evolve beyond its initial shape and form. While I feel cautiously optimistic about its promise of offering a friendlier environment for conversations, one cannot help but wonder how the ever-expanding power and influence of Meta will shape the future of both the online and offline world. In the meantime, I’ll be relishing all these ad-free and vitriol-free threads while it lasts.
