Threads, the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook-owned Meta, was officially launched a day earlier than anticipated.
With an astonishing 30 million sign-ups in less than 24 hours, Threads has already announced itself as the ultimate Twitter competitor.
Despite resembling Instagram in user interface design, Threads aims to challenge Twitter’s dominance in the microblogging sphere.
With Instagram’s massive existing user base of over 2 billion global active users, Meta aims to leverage Threads to capture a significant portion of the social media market.
As we all eagerly anticipate Threads’ impact on the social media landscape, we bring you an exploration of happenings surrounding the birth of the Twitter-killer app, as dubbed by Twitter-offended Meta fans.
In this article:
Latest: Elon Musk threatens to sue Zuckerberg over Twitter clone, Threads
It has reportedly come to light that Meta has been actively recruiting former Twitter employees, specifically those who possess work phones and confidential documents from the social media giant, to develop Threads over the past few months.
Musk has now vowed legal action against Meta, accusing them of violating intellectual property and trade secrets laws.
The legal battle between Musk and Mark adds another layer of to the rivalry between the two tech giants.
While Meta’s Threads app has already earned an impressive early adoption, the looming legal dispute casts a shadow over its future.
Zuckerberg projects Threads to hit over 1bn users
Mark Zuckerberg aims to create a public conversations app with over 1 billion users, an ambition he believes Twitter has not fully realized.
“It will take some time, but I think there should be a public conversation app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” Zuckerberg posted on Threads.
This statement is a purported response to a Twitter user, @seyitalor, voicing the need for a public conversation app with a billion users, highlighting Twitter’s failure to achieve this milestone.
Threads is a text-based version of Instagram
“Threads is for public conversations,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a video announcement. “We’re hoping to bring some of what we’ve built for photos and videos on Instagram to Threads with text.”
It App Store’s description reads:
“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
The First Comers
Meta granted selected creators early access to test Thread’s features to ensure a successful launch, creating a buzz and encouraging more people to join the platform.
Renowned celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Gordon Ramsay, Tom Brady, and Coldplay were among the early adopters of Threads.
Gordon Ramsay wrote: ‘Is this where I find the lamb sauce??’
Shakira simply posted: ‘Well, hello Threads’
EU Users Can’t Use Threads, Why?
While Threads is currently available in 100 countries worldwide, including the United States and the United Kingdom, E.U countries are not ready to give Threads a nod.
Meta is still awaiting approval from the European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U., before launching Threads in E.U. countries. This is due to regulatory uncertainty surrounding the app’s handling of personal data.
According to Threads’ data privacy disclosure, the app collects sensitive user information, including health, financial information, contacts, sexual orientation, search history, political beliefs, race and ethnicity, location and more. It can also share data with third parties.
For these and other undisclosed reasons, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland, in contact with Meta regarding Threads, has indicated that the platform will not be rolled out in the European Union “at this point.”
No Instagram. No Threads.
The company says in its privacy policy that “your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account.”
Threads is linked to Instagram, allowing posts on the former to be visible to Instagram followers and encouraging more users to join.
You can only sign in to Threads using your Instagram username. But you can modify your profile specifically for Threads while retaining your Instagram username. You can’t change your Threads username except by changing the username on the associated Instagram Account.
Deleting a Threads account without losing the associated Instagram account is impossible. Users who wish to maintain their Instagram account can only deactivate their Threads page.
Threads with ActivityPub, coming…
Meta is working on making Threads compatible with ActivityPub, a decentralized social networking protocol known as the Fediverse, allowing information to flow between different social media platforms and services.
By implementing ActivityPub, Thread would become interoperable with other apps that support the protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress. This would enable users to connect and engage with content from different platforms, expanding the possibilities of social interactions beyond the limitations of most social apps today.
Your Threads Profile?
While changing your Threads username is impossible, you can modify your profile specifically for Threads.
Threads allows users to import their Instagram bio and photo. Verified Instagram users will carry over their verification checkmarks to Threads.
Threads integration with Instagram allows users to easily import their existing Instagram followers and following list, eliminating the need to rebuild their community from scratch.
Your Threads Usage
- Threads presents a user-friendly interface with a scrollable feed. The feed on Threads includes content from users you follow and recommended content from new creators.
- Users can control interactions on Threads, including who can mention or reply to them, and filter out replies containing specific words.
- Similar to Twitter, users can engage with posts by liking, commenting, reposting, and sharing the link on other platforms
- Threads allows users to post content with up to 500 characters and upload videos up to five minutes long, providing more flexibility than Twitter’s 280-character limit.
- Threads uses terms like ‘reposts’ instead of ‘retweets’ and ‘threads’ instead of ‘tweets.’
- Accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will be automatically blocked on Threads. You can choose who can reply to your posts. Options include allowing replies from everyone, accounts you follow, or only users mentioned directly in the thread.
- Users can also restrict mentions of themselves to accounts they follow or completely disallow mentions.
- You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu at the top left of your screen.
- Currently, Threads does not have a direct messaging (DM) feature. Meta is still working on incorporating direct messaging, trending topics, and an enhanced search function into Threads.
- The app is available for download from the Apple Store and Google Play Store, making it accessible to iOS and Android users.
What do you think about Threads, Let’s hear from you in the comment below.
