in this episode of mysterious valleyOur hosts look at Threads as it recently hit 500 million monthly users, putting it on par with X, but is it really competing or just filling a different niche? Meanwhile, reviews have been coming in for the Trump-branded T1 phone in recent weeks as it finally started shipping after
in this episode of mysterious valleyOur hosts look at Threads as it recently hit 500 million monthly users, putting it on par with X, but is it really competing or just filling a different niche? Meanwhile, reviews have been coming in for the Trump-branded T1 phone in recent weeks as it finally started shipping after a year of delays. Plus: We explain the rapid crisis surrounding Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is resigning after a long series of controversies.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at [email protected].
How to listen
You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get all the episodes, here’s how:
If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts or simply tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for “Uncanny Valley.” We are also on Spotify.
Transcription
Note: This is an automated transcription that may contain errors.
Lea Feiger: Hi, friend.
Zoe Schiffer: Lea, hello.
Lea Feiger: How are you?
Zoe Schiffer: It’s great. Brian is gone. When the cat is away, the mice won’t talk about technology conferences.
Lea Feiger: We are talking about a device, but it is—
Zoe Schiffer: It’s something that matters to us.
Lea Feiger: It’s something that matters to us. It is a device that matters to us.
Zoe Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED mysterious valley. I’m Zoë Schiffer, business and industry director.
Lea Feiger: And I’m Leah Feiger, director of policy and science.
Zoe Schiffer: Today on the show, we’re discussing how Threads, Meta’s competitor to X, has been quietly growing and actually catching up to its rival. Last month, Threads reached 500 million monthly users, making it as popular as Elon Musk’s social platform. It really took me by surprise. We’ll discuss what this milestone means in a landscape increasingly obsessed with AI products.
Lea Feiger: We’ll also delve into Trump’s phone. The one that was announced a year ago was delayed quite a few times, and now it seems that orders have finally been arriving in recent weeks. The phone’s features are exactly what you would expect. Next, we’ll turn our attention to the political debacle happening in Maine. Democratic candidate Graham Platner faces accusations of sexual abuse and numerous calls to resign.
Zoe Schiffer: Okay, Leah, let’s dive into Meta’s Threads first. If you have an Instagram account, you’ve definitely seen it. The app is constantly promoted in the main feed. And to update people who don’t know, it’s a lot like X, like Twitter. And that’s the point. Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, turned it into X, and Meta basically saw a very open field because people were very upset with the way Elon Musk handled that platform. And so they created Threads as a direct competitor. When it was first released, it received a lot of press. I was part of that press. He was billing it, embarrassingly, as the new, next, best Twitter. But then I had that kind of overly subdued LinkedIn feeling, at least for me, and it seemed like a lot of others. And then, it feels like it’s kind of disappeared off the map a little bit. But then Meta announces, wait, no, 500 million monthly users, putting it on par with X.
For more tech updates, stay tuned to our blog.
