The Truth About Threads

When Chris Messina joined Google back in 2010 as a user experience designer, he was placed within a team devoted to making Google+, the company’s big bet in social media, a success. The network, launched in 2011, was designed to bring Google’s might to the world of social media and supplant some of the big beasts of the time, including Facebook and Twitter. Rather than change the world, Google+ became a punchline for big tech hubris, limping along until 2019 before fizzling out. It was a humbling experience for the designer, as well as for Google. Which is why Messina—best known as the inventor of the Twitter hashtag—watched the rise of Meta’s newest app, Threads, with a little skepticism over the last two weeks.

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July 21, 2023 2:34pm EDT

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SOCIAL STUDIES

Threading the Needle: Social Media Power Users Are Divided About Threads

By Chris Stokel-Walker

When Chris Messina joined Google back in 2010 as a user experience designer, he was placed within a team devoted to making Google+, the company’s big bet in social media, a success.

The network, launched in 2011, was designed to bring Google’s might to the world of social media and supplant some of the big beasts of the time, including Facebook and Twitter. Rather than change the world, Google+ became a punchline for big tech hubris, limping along until 2019 before fizzling out. It was a humbling experience for the designer, as well as for Google. Which is why Messina—best known as the inventor of the Twitter hashtag—watched the rise of Meta’s newest app, Threads, with a little skepticism over the last two weeks.

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