Key Points
- Meta is set to launch its rival app to Twitter on Thursday.
- It comes as Twitter experiences a user backlash over tweet view limits.
- Instagram has a history of introducing new features based on the success of other social media firms.
There’s a new alternative to Twitter coming out, and it’s owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
On Thursday, Meta plans to launch its microblogging app called Threads.
While the company has not come out publicly with a formal launch announcement about the app, and did not respond to requests for comment from various media outlets, a few details have been provided in a listing on Apple’s App store.
Here’s what we know so far.
What is Threads and how does it work?
The app is linked to Instagram, not Facebook, and will allow users to retain followers from the photo-sharing platform, and keep the same username.
Based on the screenshots on the app store, the interface looks similar to Twitter, with users able to like, reshare and limit who can reply to posts.
Meta describes it as a “text-based conversation app” that will allow users to “discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow”.
But the app listing also says it could “collect” users’ data including their health and fitness, financial info, purchases, location, contacts, search and browsing history, among others.
Why does it matter?
The rollout represents a direct challenge and credible threat to Twitter, since Elon Musk bought the company for US$44 billion ($66 billion) in 2022.
Last week, the Tesla billionaire announced a slate of new restrictions on the app, limiting the number of tweets users could view per day, prompting outcry from many on the platform.
He also announced the TweetDeck dashboard would go behind a paywall in a month’s time.
Musk replied to a tweet on Tuesday about the launch with an apparent jibe, saying: “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run”.
After acquiring the company late last year, and reinstated a number of banned accounts, such as those of former United States president Donald Trump and conservative satirical news site Babylon Bee.
Hundreds of advertisers, concerned by a perceived rise in harmful content on the platform, paused spending with Twitter, and internal documents seen by the Reuters news agency showed the platform’s most active users becoming disengaged.
Will Threads succeed where others haven’t?
While alternative microblogging sites – such as Mastodon and Blue Sky – have seen an uptick in user numbers since Musk’s acquisition, neither has been able to challenge Twitter.
But Instagram already has hundreds of millions of registered users and has a history of introducing new features based on the success of other social media firms.
In 2016, it added a feature called “stories” to Instagram, or user posts that disappear after a fixed amount of time, in response to the rising popularity of Snapchat.
More recently, the company’s short-form video feature “Reels” has sought to challenge the rise of TikTok.
Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on a similar launch on the Google Play Store. Reuters approached Twitter for comment.
Discussion about this post