Well that's suspicious! Twitter's search function isn't showing links to its rival Threads after Elon Musk's criticism of the platform
- Twitter's search feature isn't showing links to its competitor, Threads.
- There is a workaround to surface Thread links via search, The Verge reported.
Twitter once again appears to be up to some funny business with how it treats links to a competing platform that has drawn Elon Musk's ire.
As the rivalry between Twitter and Threads continues to heat up, there's something happening with Twitter's search function that could make it harder for people to check out Mark Zuckerberg's newest platform: Twitter is limiting search results for tweets containing links to Threads posts, The Verge reported. Insider has also replicated the issue.
Usually, people can search for certain websites on twitter by typing "URL:" and the website they are looking to find. For example, if you go on Twitter and search URL:Facebook.com it brings up results for Facebook or if you search URL:Insider.com it will show tweets containing links to this online publication.
The same is not true when users search URL:Threads.net. This was pointed out by Threads user Andy Baio on Monday. When Insider tried searching for Threads links on Twitter on Tuesday, there were no results.
If you try to search for Threads.net without the "URL:" in front, it shows unrelated tweets from users who have their Threads accounts in their display name. It also shows people tweeting about the platform without any actual links.
Spokespeople for Twitter and Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment ahead of publication.
For now, there is a workaround for those wanting to find Threads links on Twitter. As The Verge points out, if you search "URL:"threads net"" with a space between the words "threads" and "net" you can search for specific links. But it's not a good user experience, and it all begs the question: what's going on here?
While Twitter or Elon Musk have yet to comment on the issue, there may be some clues looking at how Musk has responded to rival platforms in the past.
This isn't the first time Twitter blocked search results for competing platforms — or blocked posting links to rival platforms altogether. In April, Twitter users were unable to interact with tweets that had links to Notes, a platform created by Substack to rival Twitter.
Musk defended the move at the time, calling Notes a "Twitter clone," and tried to paint the links to the platform as untrustworthy. But he quickly backtracked, as later that day, Substack tweeted that the link suppression was over.
While it's not yet confirmed whether or not the limitation on searching for Threads content is intentional, Musk has made his criticism of Threads — and Mark Zuckerberg — crystal clear.
Musk recently renewed his online attacks on Zuckerberg, calling him a "cuck" and saying that the creation of Threads was "cheating." Earlier, Musk's lawyer sent Zuckerberg a legal threat that claimed that Threads was copying Twitter and stealing employees and trade secrets (Meta has said that no former Twitter employees work on the Threads team).
Meanwhile, Threads is on a hot streak: it hit more than 10 million new members within the first 7 hours of release, and has since ballooned to over 100 million users in its first five days — growing at a faster pace than ChatGPT.