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Meta ’s X competitor , Instagram Threads , is copying a couple more X features today with thelaunch of supportfor polls and GIFs . The update come in rapid succession to other releases for the new app , which have includedsupport for a web version , a ( free)edit button , profile switching , likes , full - textbook search , achronological provender , voice posts , and more . Given the speedy espousal , CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggest on a call with investor on Wednesday that Threads could beMeta ’s next billion - exploiter app .
Those projections are passably optimistic , devote that Threads is now at just under 100 million monthly participating users , as Zuckerberg also said . And they do n’t take into account the surprising “ stickiness ” factor of X , which hasmanaged to retain its U.S. power exploiter and increased the time spentby its daily fighting users , accord to at least one report card , even though X has declined on other metrics , likeoverall day-to-day active utilization , monthly usance , and website traffic , as other enquiry business firm have find .
As train of thought looks to recover more ways to hook and engage users , it ’s racing to add features that Twitter drug user have come to expect .
crown , in particular , have been a popular agency to boost booking on Twitter / X as they leave drug user who are n’t heavy posters to weigh in on a subject and have their voice try . Those who post polls can pull new followers and take the pulse rate of a wide group of people without having to bleed a more courtly survey . They can also be used for fun , like asking what to eat for dinner party or which movie to see , among other personal questions . X possessor Elon Musk , in fact , has regularly used polls to drive decisions about the company ’s charge following the skill , likewhether he should step down as the read/write head of the society , declare free pardon for banned report , orbring back Vine , the brusk video platformTwitter toss off off back in 2016 .
On Threads , polls will run for 24 hours and you could control who can reply to the opinion poll , the same elbow room you could command who can respond to a military post .
GIFs , meanwhile , remain of involvement to online user as a whole , thoughyounger generation sometimes now see them as “ cringe . ”Meta itself evenacquiredthe GIF search engine Giphy for $ 400 million in 2020 , but was forced to divest of it due to an antitrust parliamentary procedure from the U.K. ’s competition authority . Shutterstock grease one’s palms the sitein a deal that value the companionship at just $ 53 million . Giphy , not surprisingly , powers the new GIFs option on Threads .
While polls and GIFs are n’t the most meaning features to add to Threads ’ Twitter clone , they ’re features that put the app more on equation with X and ahead of some other would - be X rival like the startup Bluesky , which does not yet support GIFs . ( Thoughsome of its third - company clients do . ) The feature appear to be available on the Threads mobile app at present , but not yet on the web .
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Update , 7 pm et Later in the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted that Threads would also commence test of horizon counts and pin posts or response to your profile — also X feature . Hewrote , “ survey counts are interesting as I think if we were transport Instagram , or Facebook , today , we would probably have them . They give multitude a better sensation of their reach , and generally more feedback is a dear thing . ”
Will X ’s addition of sound recording and picture vocation make stickiness in the app ?
