Meta's Threads could be a 'Twitter killer' — or could be a dud

By Jon Swartz

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. has a history of squeezing competitors with copycat products -- as well as producing some clunkers.

Meta's (META) new app Threads, reportedly set to debut Thursday, is being hailed as a Twitter killer. But a deeper look at Facebook/Meta's track record of imitators reveals mixed results.

There are notable successes. Reels was designed to mimic TikTok, and has to some degree. Instagram Stories was Facebook's answer to Snap Inc.'s (SNAP) Snapchat. Facebook Marketplace usurped Craigslist and eBay Inc. (EBAY).

Then there were the misfires. Rooms, Facebook's AOL-style chatroom app, was shut down after it failed to catch on. Poke and Slingshot, earlier efforts to emulate Snap, both fizzled. Lasso, another stab at copying TikTok, remains with limited success.

Now comes Threads, an extension to Instagram that offers Twitter-like services as that once-popular microblogging site struggles to draw advertising while simultaneously restricting user access to content.

For now, Meta isn't saying much about Threads despite its brief appearance on Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL)(GOOGL) Google Play Store. Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg dropped an obvious hint on Wednesday. Meta was not immediately available for comment.

Threads will likely make a seismic splash in a market teeming with Twitter alternatives, though its overnight success is far from a slam dunk, says Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester.

"Tomorrow's launch of Meta's new 'Twitter-like' Threads marks yet another copycat move by the company," Proulx said in a note Wednesday. "But this one hits different because, this time, Meta is banking on a moment in time amidst peak Twitter frustration."

Proulx added the market is flooded with Twitter alternatives, including Bluesky, Mastodon, Post.News and Hive.

-Jon Swartz

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07-06-23 0752ET

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