Seriously, Threads just came at the right time. If Google had introduced their own Twitter-like thing around now, I'm sure they'd be getting enough signups that they might not consider cancelling it right away!
I think the that death of Reddit also contributes to Threads (apparent) popularity.
I do still think that someone should be able to leverage Mastodon to make a Threads clone for the European Market.
Step 1: Create a whole lot of European instances called something like “OpenThreads.it” and “OpenThreads.de”, etc.
Step 2: Pay TapBots to maintain a branded variant of Ivory called something like OpenThreads (or whatever). Include App advertising and provide a Subscription option to remove ads.
Step 2a: Pay Imgur or whoever to host your users photos and videos.
Step 3: Regional native-language advertising through mainstream channels, Grassroots word of mouth and Astroturfing.
Step 4: Federate with as many friendly Mastodon instances as possible. Federate with Threads as well, until they change their minds and cause you of stealing their customers.
Step 5: Expand onto regions that are currently being serviced by threads, promising access to other OpenThreads users in Europe.
I absolutely love how we get to be (and other platforms) in their reckoning.
This is excellent. It's easier to engage with two smaller competitors than it is with one larger one. And maybe Zuck will get distracted and forget about us or something. lol Though I kinda doubt it...
We're still not fully ready for primetime yet anyway though. Apps are still adding important functionality, we've got vulnerabilities, and world is slow as hell today and experiencing hiccups. Half the current userbase is still ironing out our understanding of the basics. So, don't really mind if they do keep selling us short and not mentioning us. For now at least.