- What is it? -
Threads is a text-based sidekick of Instagram, the image-heavy social network that Facebook bought more than a decade ago and became the world's most popular app for photo sharing.
You can't be a Threads user without being signed up to Instagram and Zuckerberg said that he ultimately aims to reach one billion users, or about half Instagram's current base.
The app is easily downloadable from Instagram, where users need just a few clicks to replicate their account on the new platform. This has propelled Threads to become the fastest downloaded app ever on Apple's app store.
Once signed in, users have the same handle and inherit the same followers as they have on Instagram.
Verified accounts on Instagram are also verified on Threads, but be careful: you can only delete a Threads account by getting rid of your Instagram one, too.
- Is it the same as Twitter? -
If you don't like Twitter -- and many people don't -- you won't like Threads either, as the user interface is generally speaking very similar.
Zuckerberg joked about this in a meme tweet on Musk's platform, his first in 12 years, that featured an unexpected encounter between two identical superheros.
Users are allowed 500 characters in each post, can add a picture, five minutes of video and make replies, similar to the basic building blocks of Twitter.
But at this stage Threads is missing some key ingredients like search, hashtags, and a following only feed, meaning what you see is generated by an algorithm -- not who you follow.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said his teams were "cranking away" to provide more features as quickly as possible.
- Why not Europe? -
The birth of Threads comes just as a series of landmark laws governing big tech are coming into force in the European Union, including the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The DMA will govern so-called internet gatekeepers such as Meta, and one of the rules bans giants from combining personal data across several products, as would be the case with Threads and Instagram.
Mosser said the problems with Europe were just too large and that any solution would be "months and months away."
- What about the data? -
Meta's history with the handling of personal data is checkered and the company formerly known as Facebook is always on the search to win back trust, all while maximizing its huge profits.
At the root of the problem is Meta's revenue generator, targeted advertising which feeds off heavy intakes of personal data through Meta's platforms but also when tracked beyond them.
Threads' terms of service double down on Meta's business model, asking users to offer the site a wide berth to closely track their internet usage, something that will be very difficult for European regulators to let through.
- Who's in, who's out -
Like gaining entrance to a hot new night club, a group of celebrities, journalists and companies were offered an early VIP access to Threads, helping liven up its opening hours.
Singers Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, basketball player Stephen Curry, creator Pharrell Williams and talk show icon Oprah Winfrey have already joined Threads and posted several messages.
Netflix, Spotify, Amazon and Coca-Cola have all opened official Threads accounts.
But some of Instagram's biggest account holders have yet to adopt the sister site. Lionel Messi, Dwayne Johnson, Justin Bieber and Beyonce have yet to venture to Threads.
Musk threatens lawsuit as Twitter rival Threads takes off
Washington (AFP) July 7, 2023 -
Twitter threatened to sue Meta just hours after the Instagram parent company launched Threads, an app it hopes will beat out the struggling site owned by Elon Musk.
In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, published by online news outlet Semafor on Thursday, Musk lawyer Alex Spiro accused the company of "unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property."
The letter accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information."
Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of the world's biggest social media platforms, despite its struggles.
Zuckerberg's latest move against Musk further heightened the rivalry between the two multibillionaires who have even agreed to meet for hand to hand combat in a cage match.
Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 2300 GMT on Wednesday, and early feedback noted its close, but scaled back, resemblance to Twitter.
Within a few hours, more than 30 million people had downloaded Threads, Zuckerberg said Thursday.
"Feels like the beginning of something special, but we've got a lot of work ahead to build the app," Zuckerberg wrote on his official Threads account.
Accounts were already active for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Oprah Winfrey and Hugh Jackman, as well as media outlets including The Washington Post and The Economist.
Zuckerberg wrote: "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."
Twitter has said it has more than 200 million daily users.
Musk meanwhile retweeted an image that said the Threads logo resembled a tapeworm. "Metaphorically too," he added.
In another post referencing Twitter's potential legal action against Meta, Musk noted that "competition is fine, cheating is not."
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on Threads: "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee -- that's just not a thing."
- 'Be kind' -
Threads was introduced as a spin-off of Instagram, giving it a built-in audience of more than two billion users and sparing the new platform the challenge of starting from scratch.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri told users that Threads was intended to build "an open and friendly platform for conversations."
"The best thing you can do if you want that too is be kind," he said.
Zuckerberg is taking advantage of Musk's chaotic ownership of Twitter to push out the new product, which Meta hopes will become the go-to platform for celebrities, companies and politicians.
Analyst Jasmine Engberg from Insider Intelligence said Threads only needs one out of four Instagram monthly users "to make it as big as Twitter."
"Twitter users are desperate for an alternative, and Musk has given Zuckerberg an opening," she added.
Under Musk, Twitter has seen content moderation reduced to a minimum with glitches and rash decisions scaring away celebrities and major advertisers.
He also fired more than half of Twitter's staff, some of whom presumably went to other tech companies, including Meta.
- EU 'many months' away -
Meta has its legion of critics too, especially in the major market of Europe, which could slow the growth of Threads.
The company has been criticized for its handling of personal data, the essential ingredient for targeted ads that help it rake in billions of dollars in profits.
Mosseri said he regretted that the launch was delayed in the European Union, but had Meta waited for regulatory clarity from Brussels, Threads would have been "many, many, many, months away."
According to a source close to the matter, Meta was wary of a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that sets strict rules for the world's "gatekeeper" internet companies.
One rule restricts platforms from moving user data between products, as would potentially be the case between Threads and Instagram.
Globally, the Threads hashtag on Twitter has garnered three million tweets, with many users jokingly suggesting people will return to Musk's platform.
Others expressed privacy concerns.
"Meta loves to collect private information and I don't trust the way it treats private information," a Japanese user tweeted.
"I also have the impression that this is a company hated by EU, so I'm reluctant."
But some said they would permanently move to Threads.
One Threads user wrote: "Now I truly can say goodbye to Twitter forever."
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