July 12, 2023
Twitter has been blocking links to Threads in search results, making it more difficult for users to find conversations on the rival platform.
The move comes as Twitter faces growing competition from Threads, which has seen rapid growth since its launch. Twitter’s decision to block links to Threads in search is likely an attempt to protect its own traffic.
This is related to Twitter CEO Yaccarino’s less confrontational tone, who recently posted about how Twitter traffic has been rising. “I don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread…but Twitter, you outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February,” the exec wrote “There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it,” she added, in her not-too-subtle reference to Threads.
Her remarks follow numerous reports that implied Twitter traffic had been tanking in the days since Threads’ debut and fast rise. However, the move has been criticized by some users, who say it is anti-competitive.
Twitter has not commented on the reason for the block. However, Twitter has a history of blocking links to competing platforms, like it did with Gab in 2018 and Substack Notes more recently where it censored links and made posts related to it impossible to reply to, like, or retweet. The current block on Threads is not as severe.
The sources for this piece include an article in TechCrunch.
