Declining from popularity

In 2011, Google launched a new social network called Google+, which is supposed to be the “Facebook killer”. The company introduced the new site to many fans who trust its search engine and other products, and it reached 90 million users within the first year. But by 2018, Google+ had become an abandoned and useless service, and was later shut down completely.

Despite the internet search giant’s huge audience and Google+’s pretty tight integration with the company’s other products (which is exactly reminiscent of Threads’ approach), the social network hasn’t caught on as people continue to switch to Facebook. and later – Instagram and other services. So this example shows us that by itself Although the size of the company is a kind of “built-in advantage” over competitors, it is not a guarantee of victory in the changing and capricious market of social networks.and adding a new app to a company’s existing products can eventually wear itself out.

Once upon a time, Google+ users quickly got bored with the innovations of the new social network and stopped using it. Some saw Google+ as something imposed on them when trying to access their Gmail email. Equal Googlers described the product as “fear-based”, created only in response to Facebook and without a clear vision of why people should use it., not a competing network. Analyzing what went wrong, a former employee of the company wrote that Google+ basically describes itself as “something it’s not, namely Facebook.”

Trying out topics

But Threads is working hard to show that unlike Twitter it still has its own vision, concept and approach. The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, wrote in the new social network, of which he is also the manager, that he is not trying to choose his Twitter audience at all, and even calls directly not to escape from the old social network and not be perceived. The way he describes Threads in general is reminiscent of an impossible utopia where everything is vanilla pink, extremely positive and cheerful. No news, no politics, no sad content.

This makes sense: the company doesn’t want to be associated with negativity and doesn’t want people to be upset and blame Threads directly for negative emotions. But it also takes away people’s right to talk about everything that matters to them. It is reported that algorithms will not support news and politics and may even deliberately belittle them, so this large part of people’s social lives will be sacrificed to discussing cats, food, and entertainment. The company effectively sweeps political upheavals, environmental problems, wars, and epidemics under the rug. How long will people accept this until you return to Twitter, which allows you to express yourself about anything, even with the unpredictable Elon Musk?

Mark Zuckerberg faces a significant challenge as he tries to displace Twitter and make Threads the premier place for real-time public conversations. Users should not only have a similar or similar experience, but also see something bigger and better to keep coming back. Developers should make sure that Topics are not full of spam and scammers. In addition, viewers should be very patient and wait for all the desired functionality, because the new service was released while it was still in development. The company was clearly in a rush to make extra profits amid Elon Musk’s Twitter turmoil. So Threads doesn’t have many of the features we’re used to on social media, which may cause some to leave right away.

Mosseri said in a Topic post on Monday that he has a list of new features people want. “I promise we’ll make this thing great”– wrote the director.

Microsoft and Internet Explorer

But let’s get back to our main topic. Among the examples of rapid growth and rapid decline, we cannot pass without mentioning Internet Explorer, the most popular browser of its time.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates built his empire on Windows, the operating system that ran (and still does) all generations of personal computers. He then successfully used this scale and popularity to subdue his competitors and promote his other products. After its launch in 1995, Internet Explorer quickly became the default browser on millions of computers, surpassing then-dominant Netscape within four years.

However, this hegemony did not last long. As early as 1998, the US Department of Justice sued Microsoft for unfairly using the market power of Windows to destroy competition. In 2000, a federal judge ruled against Gates’ company, saying Microsoft had put an “oppressive thumbs up at the scale of competitive advantage.” Microsoft negotiated with the government and agreed to make concessions. Therefore, we can now choose our default browser on Windows and competing companies are taking full advantage of this by developing their own browsers.

For example, Google introduced Chrome and quickly took the lead. Today this browser is the most popular browser in the world, Internet Explorer has been closed for a long time and its successor Microsoft Edge is trying to reach the top with all its might. But unsuccessfully.

clubhouse

The situation seems similar in Clubhouse, a voice-based social network. There was no extravagant parent company or other popular product to tie into behind this venture. But even at the very beginning of its existence, the social network suddenly became extremely popular because Elon Musk participated in one of its live broadcasts. Back then, access was by invitation only, so not everyone could get there. Those who wanted to participate literally organized an invitation hunt.

However, even before the service went out of testing and canceled the invitation requirement, it had already become useless for everyone. Today, the main function of audio broadcasts “Spaces” has been copied by some companies, including Twitter, and Clubhouse itself is only referred to in memes as a company that was growing fast and falling even faster.

what is it now

As you can see, Threads has every chance to survive and become a really popular product or go into decline and go to the dustbin of history if it doesn’t really offer anything new to users. The company needs to show users that its service is interesting and meaningful to them – more than just another advertising platform that is Instagram.