Meta, the social media giant, launched an app called Threads on Wednesday, seemingly aimed at users seeking an alternative to Twitter, a platform that is owned by Elon Musk and has undergone frequent changes.
Threads, touted as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram, provides users with a new space for real-time updates and public conversations. The app became available in the Apple and Google Android app stores in over 100 countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Japan, immediately after midnight on Wednesday in the UK. Notable early adopters of the app include renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, pop star Shakira, and Mark Hoyle, who is popularly known as the YouTuber LadBaby.
According to screenshots shared with the media, Threads offers users a microblogging experience similar to Twitter, indicating that Meta Platforms has prepared itself to directly challenge the platform. Musk’s ownership of Twitter has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have alienated users and advertisers.
The app features buttons to like, repost, reply to, or quote a “thread,” along with counters that display the number of likes and replies a post has received.
Meta stated, “Our vision is that Threads will be a new app more focused on text and dialogue, modeled after what Instagram has done for photo and video.”
Unlike Twitter’s character limit of 280, Threads allows posts of up to 500 characters. Users can include links, photos, and videos up to five minutes in length.
Existing Instagram users can log in to Threads using their current usernames and follow the same accounts. New users will need to set up an Instagram account.
Safety measures are a priority for Meta. The company ensures compliance with Instagram’s community guidelines and provides tools to control mentions and replies for user protection.
However, Meta’s new offering has raised concerns about data privacy. Threads has the potential to collect a wide range of personal information, including health and financial data, contact details, browsing and search history, location data, purchases, and sensitive information, as disclosed in its privacy policy on the App Store.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, sarcastically highlighted this issue in a tweet, stating, “All your Threads belong to us,” accompanied by a screenshot of the disclosure. Musk responded with a simple “yeah.”
It is worth noting that Threads will not be launched in the European Union due to stringent data privacy regulations. Meta has informed the Data Privacy Commission in Ireland, where its regional headquarters are based, about the absence of plans to release Threads in the 27-nation bloc, as confirmed by commission spokesperson Graham Doyle.
While Threads was teased with a listing on Apple’s UK App Store earlier in the week, it was not found on the French, German, or Dutch versions of the store. Meta is working on expanding the app’s availability to more countries, but regulatory uncertainty has led to the decision to postpone a European launch.
Industry analysts have expressed doubts about the app’s success, given Meta’s history of launching standalone apps that were later discontinued. Additionally, Meta’s focus on the metaverse, with significant investments in virtual reality, raises questions about whether Threads is the right move for the company. Over the past year, Meta has announced tens of thousands of layoffs due to a slowdown in the tech industry.
Mike Proulx, a research director at Forrester, a global market research company, commented, “Meta is risking spreading itself too thin. While Meta hopes to capitalize on the current frustration with Twitter, there are already numerous Twitter alternatives, such as Bluesky, Mastodon, Spill, Post. News, and Hive, all vying for the market share.”
Threads could pose a new challenge for Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion. Musk has faced backlash for implementing changes on the platform, including daily limits on tweet views and paid verification for access to TweetDeck.
The rivalry between Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, may extend beyond the virtual realm. In an online exchange, the two tech billionaires jokingly agreed to a cage match face-off, although it remains unclear if this will materialise.