Available in 31 languages, served in 100 countries, and welcomed over 30 million sign-ups just a few hours after its launch. This is Threads, and people are divided about its features, user-friendliness, and overall viability over its growing criticisms and controversies (for now). But should you download its app, sign up, and go along with the hype? Catch here at NeedThat the basics you need to know about the rising social media platform.
What is Threads?
Instagram connects its billions of users around the world with photos and videos. On July 5, 2023, Meta Platforms welcomed the second half of the year with an extended vision for Instagram by launching its text-based social networking app called Threads. Beyond photos and videos, Threads gives people a new way to share thoughts and ideas, join conversations, and interact with other users’ posts through replies, reports, and likes. Sounds familiar? That’s because it’s primarily identical to Twitter, with many experts branding it a “Twitter killer” app, and by far becoming “the biggest threat” that Twitter CEO Elon Musk has faced so far.
Threads’ similarity to Twitter isn’t unintentional, though. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Threads post that there should be a public conversation app with over 1 billion people in it, and Twitter has missed the opportunity to grab it. “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,” he said.
A screenshot from Zuckerberg’s Threads post. Even American professional MMA Mike Davis has joined the app and showed support for the Meta CEO’s vision for both Instagram and Threads.
But Threads isn’t the first social networking service to challenge Twitter. It is Meta’s version to join a growing field of platforms, including BlueSky and Mastodon, in competing to replace Twitter since Musk took over late last year.
What’s the catch?
Initially, Meta introduced Threads as a standalone app resembling Snapchat’s functionality. The team discontinued it in December 2021 but retained the branding.
Now, Threads is designed to be a place for real-time conversations and sharing “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow” said in its promotional text when it appeared in the Apple Store two days ahead of its launch. Since the app is tied to Instagram, it requires users to first have an Instagram account and use its features under the same Instagram handle. It’s available on iOS and Android devices with full functionality, whereas its web version offers limited operability.
A screenshot from Threads’ web version. Live as of this writing.
In doing so, Threads prioritizes public dialogues over private communications. It allows up to 500 characters of text or five-minute video content for posts. This is comparatively higher than Twitter’s 280 characters of text and two-minute-and-20-second video content for non-paying users. However, it fails to introduce in its launch other common social media features like hashtags, trending stories, and, more importantly, direct messaging or DMs. By the second week after its launch, Meta responded to user feedback that changes and updates are in progress and will soon introduce the following:
- A new home feed for posts;
- Capability to edit posts;
- Translation into multiple languages; and,
- Improved user interface for switching between different Threads accounts, etc.
Another major criticism Threads received is the process of deleting an account. Since it shares the same integration (username, profile picture, and display name) with Instagram, users must delete their Instagram account if they wish to terminate their Threads account. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri responded to this commotion by assuring the public that Meta is aware of this limitation and is currently exploring options where users can only delete their Threads account.
In terms of community guidelines, Threads has the same as Instagram. It bans content about nudity, sexual intercourse, and recreational drugs.
Threads and fediverse and ActivityPub
The vision for Threads doesn’t stop with it challenging Twitter and other competitors. Meta plans to make it its first app to be part of the fediverse. A portmanteau of “federation” and “universe”, it is an ensemble of a decentralized social network of different servers operated by third parties that are interconnected and can communicate with each other using the same communication protocol. For Threads, Meta will achieve this by making the app’s service compatible with the ActivityPub protocol.
ActivityPub protocol is an open, decentralized social networking protocol established by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). It has become the standard for promoting interoperability in the modern web by seamlessly interconnecting various independently operated and managed social media services. Once Threads becomes compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, it will be interoperable with other apps that also support the same communication protocol, such as WordPress and Mastodon.
What’s in it for users like you? For one, you will be given more control over your audience if you want a private profile on Threads, and at the same time, easy accessibility to reach new people outside the app’s domain if you set up a public account. This is because you will reap the benefits of an open social networking protocol, where developers can create brand-new features and user interfaces and simply integrate them into other open social networks.
Availability across the globe
Threads immediately became available in 100 countries except in China, Iran, and Russia due to regulatory censorship. Currently, it is inaccessible in European Union countries while Meta waits for regulatory clarity from the European Commission regarding the service’s data collection policies.
Beef with Twitter?
In late 2022, Twitter was confirmed to be blocking links to its rival Mastodon. Now with Threads, lawyer representatives of Twitter threatened legal action against Meta on the same day of the launch of Threads. Twitter claims that Meta violates its intellectual property rights, alleging that the company stole trade secrets by hiring many former Twitter employees. Meta denied these allegations in a Threads post, assuring that the Threads engineering team didn’t involve any former Twitter employees.
What’s next?
For years, the majority of smartphone owners and users have had accounts on any of the world’s leading social media platforms, notably including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Together, they are a complete package whose information and entertainment are unique through different features and experiences.
However, the fast-paced and ever-expanding landscape of the social networking realm has found itself rather tangled in identical, or better yet “borrowed”, ideas. From Snapchat’s short-term availability of pictures and messages now seen in Facebook’s My Day and Instagram’s Stories, to TikTok’s short, sharp bursts of video content now available on YouTube called Shorts and Facebook and Instagram called Reels. Now, there’s Instagram’s Threads app whose functionality is similar to Twitter and thus has been described as a “Twitter killer”.
Following this trend from these social media giants, it makes me wonder what’s on the horizon for this realm. Will we see more innovations to stand out in the scene or the release of assets with identical qualities from borrowed/inspired ideas? Whatever the outcome may be, you can always check NeedThat to stay ahead of what’s hot and not in the consumer industry. We provide product reviews, comparison guides, and small business discoveries.
