Tayyaba
Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram has officially launched Threads, a new app designed as a direct rival to Twitter. The app, which is available for both iOS and Android, allows users to post text, links, and photos, and reply to or repost messages from others (very much like Twitter). Threads also integrates with Instagram, so users can port over their existing follower lists and account names.
Is Threads a Serious Threat to Twitter?
The launch of Threads comes as Twitter is facing increasing scrutiny and criticism. In recent months, the company has been plagued by outages, bot problems, and concerns about its content moderation policies. These issues have led some users to look for alternatives to Twitter, and Threads could be a serious contender.Threads has a number of features that could appeal to Twitter users. Twitter is also still imposing a temporary limit on how many tweets users can view per day, in an effort to prevent data scrapers and bots from accessing too much data, which users definitely did not like. Looks like it’s a tough week for Elon Musk.
In addition, Threads is integrated with Instagram, which gives it a large potential audience. Instagram has over 2 billion active users, and many of those users are already familiar with the platform’s interface and features. Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Threads account, “There should be a public conversations app with 1 billion-plus people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”
What Makes Threads Different from Twitter?
Threads is designed to be a more intimate and personal platform than Twitter. The app is focused on close relationships, and it encourages users to share their thoughts and experiences with a smaller group of people. Threads also has a number of features that are not available on Twitter, such as the ability to create polls and group chats. The app has a 500-character limit for posts, which is way better than Twitter’s 280-character limit and is backed by Meta, which has a vast resources and a massive audience. If Threads is successful, it could pose a serious challenge to Twitter’s dominance in the social media space. Meta’s Threads saw 10 million user signups in the first 10 hours of it’s launch. Watch out Twitter.
There is this one policy that concerns the people who sign up for Threads, though. Apparently, you can’t delete a Threads account unless you completely delete your linked Instagram account as well which comes as a problem for many potential users. That isn’t really a problem for Twitter since it’s not linked to any other social media platform. Remember that one before you sign up.