A week after Meta launched Threads, a Twitter doppelganger disguised as Instagram but over text, Washington’s professional posters are watching it closely, curious to see if it will unite a viable online community or soon unravel like so many other hopes to replace the original microblogging platform.
This isn’t the first time the extremely online set on Capitol Hill has wondered if a new app could usurp Twitter as their time of choice. In the wake of Elon Musk buying Twitter and on time laying off most of its workforce last year, Washington looked at alternatives like Mastodon and Post. But while Twitter is a slow burn — the platform has been riddled with bugs, bots, and Bitcoin bros since Musk took over — these apps have been flashes in the pan, with numbers of users. bursting after a growth spurt.
When CQ Roll Call asked the communications and digital staff in December if they thought Twitter might be dethroned as Washington’s favorite digital water cooler, they were rightly skeptical. “Twitter isn’t going anywhere,” an aide said.
But that was before the world’s largest social media company entered the picture. While Twitter toyed with limiting the number of tweets users could see, Threads recorded more than 100 million registrations in its first week, including some of the biggest names in politics and journalism. So is Washington finally ready to leave his abusive and addictive relationship with Twitter and settle down with Threads instead?
Not exactly. Both Republican and Democratic aides said they had their heads over Threads just in case it takes off, not that they really expect it to, and some added that they were posting tweets to the new app. “We planted a flag because if things go a certain way, we’re there,” said Ben Kamens, communications director for Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.
