Do we have a Twitter problem, or an ‘us’ issue?

IF THE Twitter-Threads smackdown is any proxy for an Elon Musk-Mark Zuckerberg cage match, Musk would be sporting a black eye about now.

Round one went resoundingly to Meta after the social media giant threw the weight of Instagram behind Threads, converting its hoard of users from its photo-sharing platform into fresh sign-ups for its challenger to Twitter. Meanwhile, Twitter staggered about the ring reeling from problems of its own making, from platform outages to erratic usage policy changes.

As the Threads launch loomed last week, Musk remained unbowed, scoffing: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”