Instagram Head Says Threads Isn’t Trying to ‘Replace’ Twitter, but Is ‘Interested in a Less Angry Place for Conversations’

Meta is not aiming to crush Twitter with Threads, but is instead looking to provide a “less angry place for conversations” as a Twitter alternative, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said Friday.

Instagram’s Threads app is taking the world (the parts that aren’t in the EU, at least) by storm, with tens of millions of users having already signed up for it within days of its launch. That rapid growth led many to wonder whether Meta was angling to overshadow Twitter, given the functional similarities between the tweeting and threading platforms, but Mosseri posted on Threads to dismiss that train of thought.

“The goal isn’t to replace Twitter,” he wrote. “The goal is to create a public square for communities on Instagram that never really embraced Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less angry place for conversations, but not all of Twitter.”

Mosseri acknowledged that hard news and politics (i.e. divisive subject matter) were bound to show up on Threads, but that the Threads team wouldn’t be encouraging “those verticals.” On the flip side, he clarified said such topics wouldn’t be discouraged or down-ranked, they just wouldn’t be courted.

His statement somewhat clashed with Threads putting a “fake news” warning in place before anyone could follow Donald Trump Jr., but Meta’s Andy Stone clarified that was an error that’s since been fixed. (In response to TheWrap’s request for comment, a Meta representative pointed toward Stone’s tweet.)

Mosseri stated that while hard news and politics are important topics, the gains they bring are not worth the risks from a platform’s perspective. The risks he cited included scrutiny and general negativity.

Meta’s stance there stands in contrast to Elon Musk’s philosophy for Twitter, wherein the site owner has routinely tackled divisive and controversial subjects head-on, going so far as to give his own opinions with apparent disregard for the financial consequences.

Threads’ emphasis on community building aligns with what some experts cited as a growth factor risk for the platform. But it seems that an emphasis on community is not a potential perception problem for Meta — it is instead exactly what the company is aiming for.

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Threads Poses a Real Threat to Twitter – if Meta Plays Its Cards Right | Analysis