Elon Musk has done the unthinkable - He makes Mark Zuckerberg look like a mensch...well sort of!

This week Meta, also known as Facebook, launched its newest product, Threads. 

Since the July 5 launch, over 70 million accounts have been established, primarily based on an easy migration from Meta's other popular platform, Instagram. Elk Grove News, which has an account on Instagram under ElkGroveNewsNet, was the 8,569,550th joining in the first 24 hours.

While the ease of Instagram transfers accounts for some of the intense interest, many social media reporters have suggested the popularity is a reaction to how Elon Musk has managed Twitter since his purchase last year. From our perspective, our immediate use of Thread is in response to the deterioration of Twitter.

Elk Grove News recently celebrated our 14th anniversary on Twitter. During that time, we found the platform an unparallel source to monitor breaking news from sources like the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press.

While we don't follow celebrities or star athletes, a popular reason for using all social media platforms, it is a helpful tool to monitor popular culture. Additionally, it was a good way to monitor many government agencies to announce important developments.

Since Musk's purchase, like many users, we noticed unfavorable changes to the platform and the standards. While we didn't abandon the platform like many individuals or major media outlets like NPR did, our engagement has been substantially reduced. 

So when Meta announced its new platform, we jumped on board. While we have joined a couple of promising fledgling social media Twitter-like platforms like Spoutible.com and Post.news, neither has attracted media outlets, journalists, or politicians that made Twitter hum. 

So far, Thread, which is only available on mobile devices, is promising. However, there are a few unappealing things that make [made] Twitter more desirable. 

On Twitter, you can select who to follow, but on Thread, while you can choose who to follow, you are also subjected to celebrity posts and others based on their algorithim. We have no interest in seeing posts from fashion social influencers or any celebrity. 

But, as noted, Thread is promising. The launch of Thread has also improved Meta's founder Mark Zuckerberg's tarnished reputation.

Based on the promises made over features Thread will add and the enforcement of anti-hate standards, Zuckerberg looks like a mensch compared to the erratic Musk. But let's not get carried away, given all the transgressions Meta's Facebook has perpetrated on democratic institutions, all in pursuit of a buck.   

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