Threads, the much-anticipated “Twitter Killer” from Instagram, has finally here.
Threads, the much-anticipated “Twitter Killer” from Instagram, has finally here.
Mark Zuckerberg‘s long-rumored alternative app to Twitter has finally been released after months of rumours and secrecy surrounding its development.
On Wednesday, a new app called Threads was introduced as a companion to Instagram, the widely used photo-sharing network that Mr. Zuckerberg’s company, Meta, purchased more than a decade ago. Threads is designed to allow users to discuss topics related to photos posted on Instagram. Some techies refer to Threads as a “Twitter killer” because of its potential to replace Twitter, which is a competitor of Instagram. If Instagram executives have their way, Threads will also replace Twitter.
The launch of Threads raises the stakes in the competition between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter in the previous year. Mr. Musk has altered the user experience of Twitter by tampering with its algorithm and other features. Most recently, he put temporary limitations on how many tweets individuals could see when using the app, which incited uproar among Twitter users.
During the past few months, numerous internet businesses have attempted to profit on the turbulence surrounding Twitter. Threads, on the other hand, has a significant advantage because to Meta’s huge coffers and Instagram’s vast user base, which includes more than two billion monthly active users throughout the world.
On Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg made the following statement in a post he made to his Threads account: “I think there should be a public talks app with 1 billion people or more on it. Twitter has had the chance to implement this, but they haven’t quite gotten it right yet. It’s my hope that we will.” He stated that within the first four hours of Threads’ introduction, the platform had already had 5 million sign-ups, and a few hours later, he stated that the figure had increased to 10 million.
Mr. Musk chimed in on the discussion, stating that he was underwhelmed with Threads and alleging that he had deleted his account on Instagram. On Twitter, he wrote: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.” Instagram is a social media platform that allows users to disguise the agony they are experiencing.
This is everything you need to know about Threads.
What exactly is Threads, and how exactly does it function?
Threads is an app that was developed by Instagram and is positioned as a platform on which users may engage in public discussions in real time with one another. Threads contributes to the growth of Instagram, which is a flagship product in the family of products developed by Meta.
“The idea is to hopefully build an open, friendly space for communities,” Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, said in an interview. “The idea is to build Instagram.”
Instagram has integrated Threads into its platform rather extensively. For the time being, anyone who are interested in joining up for the new app are needed to already have an account on Instagram. The Instagram handle of a person must also be used as their user name on Threads.
If users so want, they will also get the option to immediately import the list of individuals they follow on Instagram into their Threads account. The verified users of Instagram will also have their accounts confirmed on the new app. Users have the option to make their Threads account either public or private.
What aspects of Twitter does Threads share and what distinguishes it from that platform?
What was the inspiration for Instagram’s Threads feature?
According to Mr. Mosseri, Instagram has, over the course of the previous several years, made a determined effort to streamline its mobile application. According to him, this endeavour resulted in the creation of a standalone app for the Threads platform. Because of this, Instagram would not become overly congested as a result of its efforts to accommodate public interactions within its pre-existing app.
Mr. Mosseri continued by saying that the temptation to develop a whole new application was difficult to ignore, particularly at such a turbulent time in the history of social media.
“There was an opportunity or demand for more people to play in the public space,” he added, alluding to the changes that have taken place around Twitter under the leadership of Mr. Musk. In addition, Mr. Mosseri stated that the opportunity to compete with Twitter arose “not just because of the ownership, but because of product changes and decisions” that Mr. Musk and others made to the operation of the social network.
Late in 2012, Instagram began preparations to compete with Twitter by having hundreds of its engineers, product managers, and designers brainstorm ideas for a competing app and present those ideas to the company’s leadership. A more broad launch of a feature called Instagram Notes, where individuals may exchange brief notes on the site, was one of the concepts that staffers at Meta discussed at the time. Another concept that was discussed was the creation of a text-focused app leveraging Instagram’s technology.
In the end, Mr. Mosseri and other management came to the conclusion that they should “make a bet” on a messaging app and put more effort into developing what would eventually become Threads.What kind of integration with other apps may users expect?
Threads will eventually be able to function across numerous applications in what Instagram refers to as the Fediverse, which is an abbreviation for a federated universe of services that share communication protocols. This is the ultimate objective of Instagram. Similar functionality may be found in other programmes, such as Mastodon, which is yet another social network.
This may come out as having a lot of technical jargon. It indicates that Instagram wants to make it simpler for Threads to work smoothly with other platforms. This may appeal to content producers and influencers because it means that they will not have to begin from scratch on each app.
If a content producer, for example, amasses a sizeable number of followers on Threads, they might, in theory, take those followers with them to other platforms that are based on the same technology as Threads. According to Mr. Mosseri, this would reduce the amount of risk that artists face and potentially prevent them from feeling as though they are “stuck” on a single platform.
Has Instagram copied the design of any other apps?
Meta, Mr. Zuckerberg’s company, which also controls Facebook and WhatsApp, has a long history of attempting to stamp out social media competitors, in part by replicating the characteristics of those competitors. Mr. Zuckerberg is a tough competitor and has had a long-standing desire to own a platform that is capable of performing the same functions as Twitter.
This tactic does not always ensure that one will be successful. For instance, Facebook’s early efforts to clone the ephemeral messaging software Snapchat did not originally acquire much popularity, and this was one of the reasons why.
Threads has a design that is quite similar to that of Twitter in many respects. Users are able to publish primarily text-based messages to a feed that scrolls horizontally, and those who follow them and whom they follow are able to react to those messages. People are also able to upload videos and photographs to the application.
But in addition to that, Threads is not the same as Twitter. It does not support direct messaging at the present time, which is a feature that Twitter provides. Instagram has indicated that it may add functionality to Threads if new users express interest in having those features.
