What’s in the latest Meta app, Threads? How did Twitter CEO Elon Musk react to the app’s launch? With the advent of microblogging sites like Mastodon and Bluesky, is Twitter’s influence waning? Why is Threads not yet available in the EU?
The past two weeks have greatly tested the patience of Twitter users. The platform has experienced several annoying outages, while billionaire Elon Musk has cited data collection by other organizations as a reason for limiting the number of tweets paid and non-paid accounts can view each day. In response to the complaints, Musk tweeted the memes and taunts to Twitter users.
What is a threaded application?
Threads was launched on July 5 by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Threads is a general-purpose text chat application built by the development team behind the photo-sharing application Instagram. This week, iOS and Android users in more than 100 countries can access the app. According to Bloomberg, the app has generated a lot of interest, with more than 70 million subscribers in just two days.
According to Statista data, as of December 2022, Twitter has about 368 million monthly active users worldwide, while Instagram has more than 2 billion monthly active users.
How the app works Threads thread?
A topic is part of a user’s Instagram account. Thread users need to be registered on Instagram and can use the same username and user account they follow on Instagram. Many settings such as blocking users, restricting access to users, and hiding words are synced between the two platforms. However, if a user decides they don’t like Threads, they can disable the account. Deleting a topic will also delete their Instagram account. Users see content from accounts they follow on Instagram and Threads, as well as recommendations.
There are also plans to allow users to choose to view only their accounts. It is currently not possible to send private messages to other people on Threads.
According to the Google Play Store, Threads can collect data such as user location, personal information, financial information, health and fitness information, messages, photos and videos, files and documents, calendar events, and more. Some of the personal information that Threads may collect includes a user’s address, phone number, political or religious beliefs, and/or sexual orientation.
While the Threads app is still in its infancy, Meta plans to make it compatible with the ActivityPub open social networking protocol so that Threads could one day work with platforms like decentralized social networking site Mastodon, as well as content management systems and website creation WordPress.
How are Threads and Twitter similar?
Threads is similar to Twitter in terms of user interface and basic functionality. Users can create posts and comment on posts. They can also like, retweet and quote the post, or share it on Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. Thread posts can be up to 500 characters in length and contain media such as links, images, and video, and can be up to five minutes long.
News organizations and other professionals often rely on Twitter for instant updates and official announcements or commentary. However, Threads does not yet support keyword searches, which are crucial for these users. Also, Threads doesn’t show trends the way Twitter does.
For now, Meta’s new app looks like a familiar mix of Instagram and Twitter highlights. There are no ads yet on Threads. How the platform will evolve to meet the needs of users and advertisers remains to be seen.
read alsoDifference Between Threads and Twitter
How did Elon Musk react to Threads?
At first, Musk responded to news reports about Threads with jokes and hilarious comments. Semafor reports that Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Zuckerberg threatening to file a lawsuit. Spiro’s July 5 letter alleges that Meta hired “dozens of former Twitter employees” and used those employees, along with what they learned about Twitter’s trade secrets, to build a Threads parody app for Meta. Meta spokesman Andy Stone confirmed that no one on the Threads development team is an ex-Twitter employee.
Some time before Threads launched, Musk and Zuckerberg publicly challenged each other to a physical altercation. (WWE: oh wow, this spoiled me)
Why is Threads in trouble in the EU?
EU users were unable to download the Threads app on July 5, as Meta delayed the app’s launch in those countries due to regulatory compliance challenges in the region. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri told tech platform The Verge that while Meta plans to bring Threads into the EU, it will take longer to ensure compliance with the law, with the plan set to begin in 2024.
While Mr Mosseri did not mention any laws, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect in May, aims to classify large online platforms as “gatekeepers” and lay out rules to ensure they handle data fairly and ensure they do not take away competition the power of adversaries and obtain consent to track users outside of the core service for targeted advertising.
Separately, the European Court of Justice in July took the position of Germany’s antitrust regulator, which wants to stop Meta’s practice of mixing data collected through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
What other contests does Twitter have?
When Musk bought Twitter in late October 2022, the number of registered users of the rival’s social media surged, with many linking Musk’s leadership to the rise of racism and misinformation on Twitter. Mastodon, for example, has attracted nearly 1 million new users, according to The Guardian. Growth has been inconsistent, however, and Mastodon has been criticized for its chaotic structure of multiple servers that users can access.
Blue Sky is another competitor. Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey sits on the board of Bluesky, which is building a public conversation protocol so users can move between platforms rather than being locked into one. Bluesky’s beta version requires invitations, but 50,000 users signed up in April and more than 58,000 in early July, CNBC reported. Bluesky uses invitation codes to reduce spam and unwanted people, so its growth as a Twitter competitor is inherently limited.
read also: Download the new Threads app from Meta and sign up for an account there
How are Bluesky and Mastodon different from Twitter and Threads?
Both Bluesky and Mastodon aim to be decentralized platforms. Bluesky is based on the AT protocol, on which its founders want developers to build their applications so that users can switch between social media platforms without losing data. In contrast, Mastodon offers server providers that users must join in order to communicate with others. Each Mastodon server has its own entry requirements and policies. Users can move between servers or host their own servers.
Meta’s Threads plans to use the ActivityPub protocol, the same protocol that Mastodon will use in the future, so that the platforms can work together.
In contrast, Twitter is a centralized social media platform with more direct control over user behavior and content monitoring. If Twitter users want to transfer their accounts to another platform, they have to start over without followers or posts.
Meta, with a user base in the billions, may be the best contender against an increasingly unstable Twitter. However, at a time when internet users expect more ease of use, transparency, and accountability from social media companies, Threads offers experimental features, dark design, and automated push features.
Source that helped me: thehindu