Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Media Production, Management, and Technology instructional assistant professor, is the author of the opinion column “Is Threads Unraveling Already?” published on thehill.com on Aug. 3.

Selepak comments on how Threads, Meta’s new social media microblogging platform, gained an unprecedented 100 million-plus users in the first few days after it was launched. However, the initial excitement was short-lived.

According to Selepak, web analytics company Similarweb reported that Threads daily active users dropped from 49 million to 23 million one week later. Meta’s billions of investment dollars did not prevent the decrease.

“Threads basically started off as a beta application and a cheap Twitter knockoff with fewer features,” said Selepak. “There was no desktop version, no hashtags, no direct messaging option, no visible analytics, and users had no idea which topics were trending on the app. Instead, the Threads timeline was built around Meta’s algorithm, with users seeing what Meta wanted them to see. Also, Threads is more like Facebook than Twitter.”

He adds, “In essence, Threads is just one more example of Meta attempting to replicate what someone else has made rather than creating something new. Threads did get a lot of early attention, but I don’t think it was because people were really excited about the app; they only wanted Threads to succeed to see Elon Musk fail, but I don’t think Musk and X are scared of Threads anymore.”

Selepak was also quoted in “From Hot Issues to Hot Dogs, Politicians Turn to Threads to Reach Voters” posted on azpbs.org on Aug. 1.

The story focuses on the popularity of social media platform Threads with Arizona politicians.

“Threads is another avenue for politicians to reach their constituents and to control the messages constituents see. Social media platforms are typically safe spaces for politicians to market themselves,” he said. “Non-controversial, non-political posts are intentional: They make politicians more relatable and more human. When it comes to politics and elections, as much as we may wish and hope that people are voting based on policy issues, it often just comes down to likability.”

Posted: August 3, 2023
Category: Alumni News, College News
Tagged as: Andrew Selepak, Meta, Social Media, Social Media Impact, Threads