Elon Musk’s X (Twitter) vs. Threads: Who’s Winning the Social Media War?

Social media platforms face their toughest competition ever. In one corner stands Elon Musk’s X, the rebranded Twitter aiming to revolutionize digital interaction. In the other corner is Meta’s Threads, a sleek microblogging platform designed to siphon users from X by leveraging Instagram’s colossal audience. Both platforms trying to become the biggest in the age of attention spans shortening and user loyalty — non-existent. What company truly emerges victorious from this battle? Let’s break down the enggae datapoint, user behavior and strategic play to figure out the leader and whether or no there is space for both to succeed.  

The Contenders: A Deep Dive into X and Threads 

X (Twitter): From Microblogging to “Everything App”

Elon Musk’s $44 billion-august 2022 acquisition additionally marked a socio-economic shift within the world of social media. Renamed X in July 2023, the platform underwent drastic changes to align with Musk’s vision of an “everything app” akin to China’s WeChat. Key transformations include:  

1. Content Expansion: The character limit in tweets increased from 280 to 25,000 allowing users to create posts that resemble blogging content.  

2. Monetization Overhaul:  

• Ad Revenue Sharing: Creators who achieve high positions receive between $200,000 to $200,000 per month through advertisement displays.  
• Subscription Tiers: Priorized Reply and Reduced Spam Deliveries is included in the X Premium ($8/month).  

3. Algorithmic Prioritization: Musk changed the app to prioritize creators in the “For You” feed, thereby diminishing clickbait and link-driven content.  

4. Community Notes: An open-source way to counter misinformation through crowd-sourced fact-checking.  

Since its launch X has encountered numerous difficulties. Polarizing moves – such as letting suspended accounts back (e.g., Donald Trump, Andrew Tate) – prompted advertisers to pull out. Major brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Disney paused spending, causing X’s ad revenue to plummet by 55% in 2023, per The Wall Street Journal.  

Threads: Meta’s Calculated Strike 

Meta launched Threads on July 5, 2023, as a direct rival to X. Built on Instagram’s infrastructure, it achieved 100 million sign-ups in five days—the fastest-growing app in history. Features include:  

• Seamless Integration: Users import Instagram bios, follower and verified.  
• Text-Centric Design: A simple interface optimized for fast updates (500) character and threaded conversations.  
• Fediverse Ambitions: Future plans to support ActivityPub (DeCentralised Social Networks like Mastodon) for cross platform interop  

But Threads’ early hype waned. Without hashtags or direct messages and a chronological feed users experienced problems with the platform. By August 2023, daily active users (DAUs) nosedived by 79%, per SimilarWeb. But Meta’s continued updates of adding trending topics, following feed, keyword search helped it steady its userbase.  

Engagement Data: A Numbers-Driven Showdown  

User Growth and Retention: The Honeymoon vs. The Grind  

X’s Struggle for Stability:  

• Monthly active users (MAUs) fell from 368 million in Q2 2022 (pre-Musk) to 335 million in Q3 2023, per Sensor Tower.  
• Daily active users (DAUs) hover around 250 million, heavily reliant on “power users”—celebrities, journalists, and politicians driving 60% of content.  

Retention rates improved slightly post-rebrand, but 45% of users report spending “less time” on X than pre-Musk, citing platform toxicity.  

Threads’ Rollercoaster Ride:  

• It launched with a bang: 2 million sign-ups in 2 hours, surpassing ChatGPT’s growth.  
• Retention faltered quickly: DAUs plummeted from 49 million in July to 10.3 million in August.  

However, Threads rebounded to 23.7 million MAUs by Q4 2023, thanks to Instagram cross-promotion and feature updates.  

Key Takeaway: Threads’s showy premiere couldn’t hide retention issues, while X’s well-established userbase – large though not growing – holds it afloat.  

Time Spent: Quality vs. Quantity

X: Users average 31 minutes daily, driven by real-time news, viral debates, and Spaces (live audio). However, engagement is top-heavy: 10% of users generate 80% of tweets.  

Threads: Early adopters spent 21 minutes/day at launch, but usage dipped to 12 minutes as novelty faded. Deep user engagement suffered due to the absence of a desktop application platform and the absence of trending topics within the platform.  

Verdict: X’s stickiness stems from its role as a public square; X stickiness comes from being a public square; Threads is more laid-back for casual browsing.  

Content Interaction: Virality vs. Relatability  

X’s Content Surge:  

• Video posts surged by 40% post-Musk, with creators chasing ad revenue.  
• Replies and quote-tweets rose by 22%, though likes per post dipped by 8% (per Social Insider).  

Top-performing content: Political commentary, crypto trends, and Musk’s own posts (averaging 2.1 million likes).  

Threads’ Niche Appeal:  

• People are most active in humor, anecdotes and pop culture content.  
• The “like” rate is 18% higher than X’s, but resharing lags due to limited hashtags and search.  
• Top-performing content: Memes, celebrity updates (Taylor Swift’s Threads posts regularly hit 1M+ likes), and Instagram-style captions.  

Verdict: X dominates public discourse; X owns the conversation, Threads just cooler, more informal visual adjacent chatter.  

Drivers of Engagement: What’s Fueling Each Platform?

1. Creator Incentives: Cash vs. Clout 

X’s Creator Payouts:  

• X has distributed $20 million to creators since July 2023. Top earners like @IanBremmer (political analyst) and @Dogecoin account make $10,000–$30,000/month.  

Incentives focus on virality: The earnings on each post increase when it receives more replies and reposts.  

Threads’ Clout Economy:  

• Although Threads does not offer direct payments influencers can use the platform to grow their audience on Instagram.  
• Two of the most influential brands like Netflix and Nike use Threads for "authentic" engagement through the practice of turning Instagram Reels captions into threaded posts.  

Analysis: X’s cash rewards attract professional creators; Hundreds of professional creators join X because of its payment system and Threads works as an additional platform for Instagram influencers building their follower base across platforms.  

2. Algorithmic Curation: Outrage vs. Positivity 

X’s “For You” Feed:  

• The system picks controversial subjects such as political disputes between celebrities and scandals to drive user engagement.  
• Musk’s own posts are algorithmically boosted, appearing in 90% of users’ feeds (per The Guardian).  

Threads’ “Happy Place” Algorithm:  

• Threads implements a similar algorithm to Instagram's platform by featuring positive shares alongside relatable enjoyable content.  
• Studies indicate User base shows a decrease in political discussions while they consume more personal content related to their daily lives.  

User Sentiment:  

The Pew Research data shows 62% of X users experience a phenomenon called "outrage fatigue."  

According to an internal Meta survey conducted with Threads users 78% acknowledge that the platform provides a less stressful experience.  

3. Platform Culture: Tribes and Trends  

X’s Power Users:  

• Journalists: 70% of U.S. journalists use X for breaking news (Reuters Institute).  
• Crypto Enthusiasts: #Bitcoin and #Web3 trends drive 12% of daily conversations.  
• Politicians: The platform X enjoys active user engagement from more than 85 percent of global world leaders.  

Threads’ Demographic Edge:  

• Gen Z and Millennials: Users below age 34 represent 60% of Threads subscribers while X features 38% young users.  
• Women-Dominated: User demographics on Threads show a majority female audience at 54% although X maintains an 70% male dominant audience platform.  
• Pop Culture Hub: Trends like #BarbieMovie and #TaylorSwiftErasTour thrive.  
• Cultural Impact: X shapes global policy; The global shape of policies comes from X controls how Threads creates viral memes.  

Advertisers and Revenue: The Money Trail 

X’s Ad Crisis  

Ad revenue dropped from $4.1 billion in 2022 to $1.9 billion in 2023 due to brand safety concerns.  

• Musk’s solution? Small companies along with subscription services will become the main focus of the business. X Premium now has 1.2 million subscribers, generating ~$120 million annually.  

Threads’ Ad-Free Experiment

Threads remains ad-free to differentiate itself, but Meta plans to introduce ads by late 2024.  

• Advertisers are wary: A study by Marketing Dive indicates that 41% of advertisers refrain from investing in Threads because of its undeveloped measurement capabilities.  
• Prediction: The advertising structure of Threads will follow the framework used in Instagram by allowing sponsors to post paid advertisements and incorporate buyable content tags.  

The Road Ahead: 2024 Predictions 

X’s Make-or-Break Year 

1. Payment Integration: Peer-to-peer payments are at the forefront of Musk's strategic plan for X because the platform already reaches 300 million users.  
2. AI Ambitions: The AI assistant Grok developed by X poses two potential features: personalization of feeds for users and bot detection functionality.  
3. Risks: Extra features along with enduring advertiser skepticism risk damaging basic user features in the platform.  

Threads’ Meta-Boosted Ascent 

1. Fediverse Integration: The integration of Mastodon services could motivate users who value privacy to join.  
2. Instagram Synergy: X and Instagram should consider 联合发布 Stories 也有 Thread 新内容 以统一两平台的用户体验。  
3. Global Expansion: Threads initiates its operations in native non-English regions including Brazil and India which have Instagram as their dominant social media platform.  

Final Verdict: It’s a Tie (For Now)

As of Q1 2024, X remains the king of real-time engagement, anchoring global conversations and housing niche communities. However, Threads’ growth potential is undeniable, backed by Meta’s resources and Gen Z appeal.  

X Wins If: The new platform remains on track to keep advertisers onboard while strengthening its unified app concept while maintaining its key user base.  

Threads Wins If: Through Instagram's existing environment Threads aspires to be the go-to "text-based Instagram" platform for the younger demographic.  

Social media users currently create a new definition of the term through their collective actions in this ongoing battle. Other than their distinct capabilities users can find entertaining threads and heated arguments on both platforms. The true winner? Choice.  For more updates please visit radarwindy.