Meta's Threads viewed as serious threat to Elon Musk's Twitter: 'Cage match has started'

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2023

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Meta’s Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

Dubbed as the “Twitter-Killer,” Threads was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the UK and the US on Thursday. Its arrival comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

“The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said.

Twitter responded on Thursday by threatening to sue Meta, according to the publication Semafor, citing a letter delivered to Zuckerberg by a lawyer for Twitter.

Numerous competitors to Twitter have sprung up following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform last year, which was followed by a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers. Musk’s latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.

Twitter’s stumbles make room for a well-funded competitor like Meta Platforms, analysts and experts said, particularly because of its access to Instagram users and its advertising strength.

“Meta’s release of Threads came at the perfect time to give it a fighting chance to unseat Twitter,” said Niklas Myhr, professor of marketing at Chapman University, referring to the turmoil at Twitter after it limited the number of tweets users can see.

“Threads will be off to a running start as it is built upon the Instagram platform with its massive user base and if users adopt Threads, advertisers will be following closely behind.”

Other competitors have found limited success. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk’s buyout.

While Threads is a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials, which makes it an easy addition for Instagram’s more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads’ launch was clearly a first stab at a service as it currently lacks the bells and whistles of Twitter.

“There should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will,” Zuckerberg said on Threads, where he now has a million followers.

Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. It also does not yet have a direct messaging function and lacks a desktop version that certain users, such as business organizations, rely on.

Some users including tech reviewer Marques Brownlee posted about the need for a feed that only consists of the people one follows. Users currently have little control over the main feed.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was hired by Musk in May to shore up advertiser confidence, said in tweet on Thursday that “everyone’s voice matters” on the app. “We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.”

Currently there are no ads on the Threads app and Zuckerberg said the company would only think about monetization once there was a clear path to 1 billion users.

Existing ad relationships from Instagram and Facebook should help Threads’ revenue, said Pinar Yildirim, associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“Facebook is a less uncertain bet compared to Twitter and a bigger player in the ad market.”

Some analysts said Threads was reminiscent of Meta’s success in integrating crucial features of platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok in the case of Instagram’s Stories and Reels.

At least four brokerages raised their price target on Meta, whose shares have already more than doubled in value this year.

On Thursday, Meta shares were down 0.2% amid a broader market selloff, after rising 3% on Wednesday ahead of Threads’ launch.

The app is available in over 100 countries, but Bloomberg News reported that it won’t be launched in the European Union as of now as Meta works out how data sharing between the new platform and its Instagram app will be regulated.

Technology

Uber opens ‘interest list’ for Waymo robotaxi rides in Austin

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1 hour ago

February 5, 2025

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Uber opens 'interest list' for Waymo robotaxi rides in Austin

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Ride-hailing and food delivery app Uber is opening its “interest list” to users in Austin, Texas, who want to be first in line for Waymo robotaxis there.

The company said in a statement that users will “be able to travel across 37 square miles of Austin — from Hyde Park, to Downtown, to Montopolis” — when the Uber-Waymo service launches soon.

The so-called “interest list” allows users to receive Uber updates and bolsters their odds of being matched with a Waymo autonomous vehicle upon launch.

The vehicles that will be part of the Austin service are Jaguar iPace electric models equipped with Waymo’s driverless systems and labeled with both Waymo and Uber branding.

The Waymo rides in Austin will only be available through the Uber app, unlike in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where riders hail them through the Waymo One app.

In the face of investor pressure to step up its autonomous vehicle strategy after Tesla promised it would soon start producing robotaxis, Uber last year said it had begun testing a ride-hailing app with some of its employees.

While Tesla does not make vehicles that are safe to use without a human driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at all times, Elon Musk’s automaker in January said it will “begin launching” a driverless ride-hailing business “later this year” starting in Austin.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, testing and operating a commercial robotaxi service in the state does not require the same types of special licenses and permits that other states require.

“Texas law allows for AV testing and operations on Texas roadways as long as they meet the same safety and insurance requirements as every other vehicle on the road,” a spokesperson for the department told CNBC by e-mail.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is expected to discuss the impact of automated driving systems — or self-driving cars — on the company’s overall business and strategy on a fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

Politics

Bybit fined $1M by India’s financial regulator over compliance violations

Published

1 hour ago

February 5, 2025

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Bybit fined M by India’s financial regulator over compliance violations

India’s financial regulator has fined Bybit $1 million for failing to register under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, leaving its compliance status unclear.

Science

Scientists Control Kelvin Waves in Superfluid Helium for First Time

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1 hour ago

February 5, 2025

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Scientists Control Kelvin Waves in Superfluid Helium for First Time

For the first time, researchers have successfully controlled and observed Kelvin waves in superfluid helium-4, marking a significant step in understanding energy dissipation in quantum systems. The study has provided a controlled method to excite these helical waves, which had previously only been observed in unpredictable conditions. The research opens new possibilities for studying quantised vortices and their role in energy transfer at the quantum level.

Controlled Excitation of Kelvin Waves

According to the study published in Nature Physics, also available on arXiv, Kelvin waves—first described by Lord Kelvin in 1880—are helical disturbances that travel along vortex lines in superfluid systems. These waves play a crucial role in energy dissipation within quantum fluids but have remained difficult to study due to the challenges of controlled excitation.

Associate Professor Yosuke Minowa from Kyoto University, the lead author of the study, told Phys.org that the breakthrough occurred unexpectedly. An electric field was applied to a nanoparticle decorating a quantised vortex with the intention of moving the structure. Instead, the vortex core exhibited a distinct wavy motion, leading researchers to shift their focus toward controlled Kelvin wave excitation.

Superfluid Properties and Quantum Vortex Behaviour

Superfluid helium-4, which exhibits quantum effects at macroscopic scales when cooled below 2.17 Kelvin, has no viscosity, allowing it to flow without friction. This unique state prevents energy from dissipating as heat, leading to the formation of Kelvin waves when disturbances occur in the vortex lines of the fluid. The research team demonstrated that these waves, rather than traditional fluid turbulence, provide an essential mechanism for energy transfer in superfluid systems.

Nanoparticles Used for Wave Visualisation

To track the motion of Kelvin waves, the researchers introduced silicon nanoparticles into superfluid helium-4 at 1.4 Kelvin by directing a laser at a silicon wafer submerged in the fluid. Some nanoparticles became trapped within vortex cores, making them visible under controlled conditions. A time-varying electric field was then applied, forcing oscillations in the trapped particles and generating a helical wave along the vortex.

Experiments were conducted across different excitation frequencies ranging from 0.8 to 3.0 Hertz. A dual-camera system allowed for three-dimensional reconstruction of the wave’s motion, confirming its helical nature.

Experimental Confirmation and Future Research

Prof. Minowa explained to Phys.org that proving the observed phenomenon was indeed a Kelvin wave required an in-depth analysis of dispersion relations, phase velocity, and three-dimensional dynamics. By reconstructing the vortex’s motion in 3D, the researchers provided direct evidence of the wave’s handedness, confirming its left-handed helical structure—something never experimentally demonstrated before.

To validate their findings, the team developed a vortex filament model, which simulated Kelvin wave excitation under similar conditions. These simulations confirmed that forced oscillations of a charged nanoparticle generated helical waves in both directions, aligning with experimental results.

The study introduces a new approach for studying Kelvin waves in superfluid helium, offering insights into the mechanics of quantised vortices. Future research may explore the nonlinearity and decay processes of Kelvin waves, potentially revealing further details about quantum fluid dynamics.