The aftermath of Thursday night’s presidential debate between X and Threads has sparked a debate of its own. While social media users didn’t prioritize this question, it’s still a topic of interest after the disastrous debate played out on both platforms.
Threads, launched by Meta as a competitor to Twitter, has tried to remain apolitical. In contrast, X, historically a hub for real-time events, has shown a shift to the right under Elon Musk’s ownership according to studies. This change may have alienated some of its original user base.
The debate on which platform handled the event better remains open-ended. Some felt the energy more on X, while others argued that Threads demonstrated its relevancy without X.
In terms of user base, X boasts 600 million monthly active users, while Threads stands at 150 million. Despite this, some users found Threads more engaging and intelligent during the debate.
However, some technical glitches on X led to prominent users being locked out before the debate. Despite this, Threads also faced challenges in real-time news coverage due to its delayed trending topics.
Despite the positive feedback on Threads, the platform struggles with discoverability through hashtags compared to X. Furthermore, the 500-character limit on Threads limits its ability to host longer discussions.
Overall, Threads showed promise but still falls short of matching X’s reach and functionality as a news hub. Until these issues are rectified, Threads remains a viable alternative to X but not a complete replacement yet.
