Mark Zuckerberg has officially launched Meta’s alternative to Twitter, Threads – and remaining Twitter accounts don’t know what to make of it.
Meta, which already owns Instagram and Facebook, has presented Threads as a “friendly” rival to Twitter. Zuckerberg claimed to have already attracted 10 million new users just seven hours after it launched.
The app is remarkably similar to Twitter – “threads” after all is what a series of Twitter posts is usually called – and allows posts of up to 500 characters.
Posts can instantly be shared to Instagram and vice versa, with links, photos and videos up to five minutes.
It also allows new users to follow all of the same people they already follow on their Instagram accounts – although, if you then want to delete your Threads account, your Instagram account will go, too.
Still, it seems this syncing with Instagram will give new users a boost, which could give Threads the advantage over other Twitter duplicate platforms, like Bluesky and Mastodon.
The other main problem appears to be the amount of data the app wants to use, including health, financial and browsing data linked to users’ identities.
The app is not yet available in the EU, because of regulatory concerns, but it is available in more than 100 other countries.
It comes after months of criticism towards Elon Musk, Twitter’s relatively new CEO who has overhauled the app by removing much-loved free features like TweetDeck and verification ticks and making them available only to paying users. There were mass lay-offs among Twitter staff, too.
Zuckerberg has claimed that keeping the platform “friendly.... will ultimately be the key to its success” – Twitter has been scrutinised for allowing pile-ons and trolling to some users.
Asked if he thinks Threads will be bigger than Twitter, he said: “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it.
“Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”
In response, Musk replied: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter then indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”
Anyway. Here’s what those still on Twitter are saying about Threads, ranging from those saying farewell to Musk’s platform and people who are significantly less convinced...