Uh Oh, Musk: Survey Finds Twitter Changes Will Force Users To Zuckerberg's Alternative, Threads

A survey conducted by Benzinga this week suggests that changes to Elon Musk’s Twitter could drive users towards Mark Zuckerberg’s new social media platform, Threads.

What Happened: Launched by Instagram on Wednesday, Threads is an app that closely resembles Twitter’s feed of real-time, text-based conversations. Users can post text messages limited to 500 characters, and the app also supports photos and videos.

It offers similar features to Twitter such as the ability to reply, repost, and quote others’ posts. More on Threads here.

Within 24 hours of its launch, Zuckerberg's Twitter alternative attracted 30 million sign-ups, becoming one of the most popular apps to have ever existed. “Wow, 30 million sign ups as of this morning. Feels like the beginning of something special, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” the Meta Platforms Inc META CEO ‘Threaded’ on Thursday morning.

Why It Matters: Twitter has 330 million active monthly users. Threads attracted 9.09% of Twitter's total user base inside of 24-hours.

Meta’s family of apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Threads, and Instagram reach over 3.8 billion people each month, according to Statista — roughly 47.25% of the globe.

Meanwhile, Twitter seems to be facing a potential user exodus.

Beginning Aug. 1, the web-based TweetDeck service — used by many for social media comparison and content monitoring — will no longer be free. Users are required to subscribe to the paid-for Twitter Blue service to continue accessing TweetDeck.

Read Also: Jim Cramer Sides With Zuckerberg Over Musk In Social Media Showdown: ‘Game, Set, Match’

Individual users and organizations will have to pay $8 per month and $1,000 per month, respectively, for account verification and access.

Twitter acquired TweetDeck, a dashboard application for Twitter account management, in 2011. However, crashes plagued the service following a July 3 algorithmic change led by Musk’s team.

The update seems to be a bid to prop up Twitter Blue and generate more revenue for Twitter, which has seen 59% less ad-revenue for the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May, according to the New York Times.

Twitter's decision to charge for TweetDeck further shrinks its potential to attract new users, as the company has been charging developers, third-party apps, and researchers for access to its API.

It’s in this climate that Benzinga conducted its survey, asking whether Twitter’s changes will force users to Zuckerberg’s free alternative, Threads. Almost half of the respondents (48.9%) said ‘yes’.

The Twitter vs. Threads rivalry is another chapter in the tech world’s — specifically Musk and Zuckerberg's — history of friction. As the two tech titans vie for dominance in the social media space, there are hints of a physical showdown as well.

Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a “cage match” last month. UFC boss Dana White confirmed that both parties are interested. If it happens, the match will be a charity exhibition. Endeavor Group Holdings Inc EDR owns UFC.

The event is still in the negotiation phase, and no details have been finalized yet.

Read Next: Are Musk And Zuckerberg Going To Fight In The Roman Colosseum?