Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched a direct challenge to Twitter with Threads, garnering millions of users within hours as it sought to capitalize of its rival’s much-weakened state following a series of controversial decisions from owner Elon Musk.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stated that ten million users registered for the Threads app within seven hours of its release. He pitched the program as a “friendly” competitor to Twitter, which Elon Musk purchased in October.
According to experts, Threads could attract Twitter users dissatisfied with recent platform changes.
Threads permits users to post up to 500 characters and has many Twitter-like features.
Previously, Zuckerberg stated that the platform’s “friendly… will ultimately be the key to its success”. Musk responded, “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than to indulge in the false happiness of Instagram’s pain-masking features.”
When asked on Threads if the app will be “larger than Twitter,” Mr. Zuckerberg responded, “It’ll take some time, but I believe there should be a public conversations app with over 1 billion users.
“Twitter has had the chance to do this but has not succeeded. We hope that we will.”
Competitors have criticized the app’s potential data usage. According to the Apple App Store, this may include health, financial, and browsing data linked to users’ identities.
Some users have also expressed concern that you cannot remove your Threads profile without also deleting your Instagram account. “At this time, you cannot delete your Threads profile without also deleting your Instagram account,” Meta told the BBC. This is something on which we are working. You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time in the interim.
“Deactivating your Threads profile will not deactivate your Instagram account”
Upon deactivation, your Threads profile, posts, and interactions with the posts of others will no longer be visible, the company added.
Meta states that users can extract and delete Threads data by accessing their Instagram settings.
Threads can now be downloaded in over 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, but not yet in the European Union due to regulatory concerns.
“Threads” Initial Release
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, referred to the new app as a “initial version” and stated that additional features, such as the ability to interact with users of other social media apps such as Mastodon, are planned.
Prior to the launch, the company stated, “Our vision for Threads is to take what Instagram does best and apply it to text.”
Even though Threads is a standalone program, Instagram accounts are used to log in. Their Instagram username is carried over, but there is an option to customize their Threads profile.
Meta reports that users will also have the option to follow the same accounts as on Instagram. The application enables users to maintain their Instagram privacy while making their Threads posts public.
The publication of the new app follows criticism of Meta’s business practices.
Frances Haugen, a whistleblower for Meta, stated that the company had prioritized “profits over safety” and criticized the platform’s moderation last year.
The company was also rocked by a scandal in which it permitted third parties, including the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, to obtain the personal information of Facebook users.
Mr. Musk joked on Monday, ostensibly in reference to the company’s tumultuous history, “Thank goodness they’re so rationally managed.”
There are numerous alternatives to Twitter, including Bluesky and Mastodon, but they have struggled to acquire popularity.
Threads has a significant advantage due to its integration with Instagram and its hundreds of millions of existing users.
How Does Threads Function?
Posts on Threads can be shared to Instagram and vice versa, and they can contain links, photos, and videos of up to five minutes in duration.
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