Already part of Threads?

Threads officially premiered on July 6. The new “text-based conversation” app, which aims to compete with Twitter, is already a reality.

Meta Threads is an extension to the Instagram app and allows users to share text posts of up to 500 characters, as well as links, photos, and five-minute videos.

CONVERSATIONS IN REAL TIME

According to Meta, Threads will be a place “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics that interest them today to what will be trending tomorrow.” “Whatever 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 to share your ideas, opinions, and creativity with the world,” the promotional text reads.

Zuckerberg’s new app looks a lot like Twitter, from the design to the description of the product itself: It allows users to post messages, reply to other users, and like or repost messages. In the same way, it also allows users of Instagram, which is also owned by Meta, to follow the same accounts in Threads, which could help add followers.

“Our vision is to take the best parts of Instagram and create a new experience for text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an Instagram post after Threads was made available for download. “I think the world needs this kind of friendly community, and I’m grateful to all of you who have been a part of Threads since day one.”

Users can also visit someone’s profile page, which is very similar in structure to Twitter and other similar social apps, like Hive and Truth Social.

PRIVACY

They don’t seem to have worried too much about this aspect, as the information provided about the privacy of the app, at least on iOS, shows that Threads can collect information about users to profile their digital activity, including financial and health data, location, browsing history, contacts, search history, and other sensitive information.

Instagram and Threads are so closely linked that if users change their username on Instagram, it will be reflected in Threads. Also, anyone who wants to use Threads must have an Instagram account. Instagram already has more than two billion active users around the world.

Meta will join a growing field of platforms, including BlueSky and Mastodon, which have been vying to replace Twitter since Elon Musk took over the social network late last year.

The app is available on the Apple App Store. It is also available on the Google Play store.

Meta may have timed the release of Threads to capitalize on recent anger directed at Twitter, which has been putting more and more features behind a paywall, as with Twitter Blue, causing even a #RIPTwitter hashtag to catch on.