Considering Twitter’s recent acquisitions as it attempts to challenge platforms like Clubhouse and Substack, it raises the question of whether the social media company is at last prepared to overcome its history of missed chances.

The speed at which Twitter has been developing new products has visibly increased in recent months, coinciding with the removal of Jack Dorsey as CEO following pressure from investors last year. They have now launched Fleets, their version of Stories, and have incorporated audio features both within the standard timeline and through the experimental Spaces platform. Furthermore, they’ve undertaken noticeable efforts to address issues related to misinformation and content moderation, although significant work remains in this area.

Over the last few weeks, Twitter has also completed several noteworthy acquisitions. The purchase of Revue, a newsletter platform, was announced today. Earlier in the month, they acquired Breaker, a podcasting application. And the previous month saw the acquisition of Squad, an app focused on social screen sharing.

This active period follows Twitter’s decision to discontinue Periscope, a live video application that was bought by Twitter and subsequently underutilized, despite being created by the company’s current head of product.

TikTok’s remarkable success in 2020, fully developing the concept behind Vine – a platform Twitter discontinued in 2017 – represents a particularly glaring misstep in the company’s past. This is perhaps the clearest instance of Twitter hindering its own progress by being hesitant to embrace new ideas. Similarly, Substack and Clubhouse are examples of competitors that Twitter could have potentially contained had it been more proactive in identifying and pursuing related social market opportunities.

This situation is especially noteworthy given the increasing difficulties faced by Facebook. Once a company that readily acquired emerging social platforms, Facebook is now burdened by political concerns and antitrust investigations, which, while not necessarily fatal, have demonstrably slowed its ability to adapt. Clubhouse, which might have been a likely acquisition target for Facebook in the past, is now too complex for Facebook to pursue in 2021, potentially allowing Twitter to become a viable competitor and grow independently.

Although considerably smaller than Facebook, Twitter remains a substantial company. As it seeks to move forward from the intense focus on the 2020 US election and broaden its goals, a key challenge will be fostering a company culture that can identify opportunities and respond to emerging competition – though another hurdle may be establishing itself as a serious contender in the eyes of those competitors.