Apple joins Threads after 14 years of not posting on Twitter

Apple has joined Threads, a Twitter alternative launched two years ago by Meta. It remains to be seen if it treats the platform the same way – by never posting anything.

The iPhone maker joined Threads just two days before the social network’s two-year launch anniversary on July 5th – unusually fast by Apple’s standards.

It took the company three years to join TikTok in 2020, five years until it had an account on Twitter in 2011, and seven years until it joined Instagram – also owned by Meta – in 2017.

Upon activating its Threads account, Apple immediately gained nearly 5 million followers. Many users carried over from its sizable Instagram presence, where it has 34 million followers.

The company has yet to post anything – and may never do so. Its official account on Twitter, now rebranded as X, has remained silent since it was created 14 years ago. Aside from the occasional cover photo change, Apple doesn’t post on Facebook either.

However, the company is known for tailoring its social media presence to fit the style and strengths of each platform.

For example, Apple is highly active on Instagram, where it regularly shares photos shot on an iPhone. Its YouTube channel features short films, while on TikTok, it posts videos of influencers offering tips on how to use its products.

While Apple does not post from its main account on X, it has a very popular Apple Support page for “tips and how-tos.”

The company is still absent from Bluesky, which despite a recent growth spurt appears to be losing some of its magic as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X, with some critics describing it as “boring.”

With an estimated 37 million users, Bluesky is still a far cry from being a true alternative to X, which is believed to have hundreds of millions of users. That makes Threads – which Meta claims has 350 million users and also benefited from the exodus from X – a much closer rival.