Fifteen months and forty-four billion dollars later, Twitter is now known as X. Basic questions to ponder now that the app has become X: What happened to the blue bird? And what will replace “tweets?” On a more abstract note, “twitter” was both a noun and a verb, arguably so is Threads, whereas X is not. Hmmm. Those musings aside, what will the future of X look like and more importantly, how will that affect how you use what is now being rebranded as the “everything app?” Like most, you probably used Twitter to micro-blog important real estate news and stay connected with your clients. Now that the forces behind X are promising “unlimited interactivity,” what might that look like and how does it stack up against Threads, it’s recent competitor? Here’s what you need to know about X versus Threads:
X AS AN “EVERYTHING” APP
What’s coming down the pipeline for X is its mission to become the next WeChat, minus the Chinese ownership. WeChat in China is an app that is literally used by almost all of the country’s city inhabitants. It combines messaging, the ability to order services like taxis and food and utilities, and being able to pay for these services through the app. It is many apps rolled into one, and X hopes to emulate and expand on those features. Namely, X strives to combine comprehensive communication with the ability to manage your financial world. The vision of X is that not only could you communicate via posts, links and images, but also do things like hail rides, buy stock, post jobs, post movies, even publish a book. And then pay for all that with a wallet inside of the X app. As part of this financial scenario, each merchant would have a QR code that would be connected to your bank account via the app’s wallet. (Recall that Musk started Paypal in 1999 and he always wanted it to be called “X.”) Who knows? Eventually you might even be able to buy a house on X…..wow, “everything”, indeed!
X VS. THREADS
All speculation aside, here’s how X compares with Threads:
THE X SUBSCRIPTION
Other things to note about X:
*Tweets are now called “X’s” and allow for a total of 280 characters for non-subscribers.
*You can become a “Blue Subscriber” (X Blue) for $8/mo or $84/year. It allows you to post up to 25K of characters plus 2-hours of video.
*As a subscriber you can access a “voice room” called Spaces wherein you can deliver real-time video casts.
*As a subscriber you can earn money for your content if it is picked up by advertisers.
WHAT THE FUTURE MIGHT HOLD FOR X AND THREADS
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether X will actually become the “Everything app.” Issues involved are trust from the public, increased regulation of all social media apps, and the reluctance of popular incumbent marketplaces like Amazon and Google to hand over their clients to a third-party app for payment. It seems apparent that the ultimate mission of X as the “everything app” is to take the place of many of the apps currently on the market, including anything to do with video streaming (think Netflix, YouTube, and so forth). Each app has its place, but each with a different feel. Threads is more about a sense of community identification while X offers more news features and the promise–or threat–of app-domination. Putting those factors aside, the question at hand for you and your real estate business is which app should you be using? The obvious answer might be both.