Things you need to know about Threads

Threads has had a strong start.

According to the company, as of Thursday morning, July 6, 2023, the app had attracted 500 million registrations, including a large number of brands, celebrities, journalists, and many other prominent accounts.

The feeling about Threads on Wednesday night was like the feeling of the first day of school. With customers rushing to try out the app and write their first posts, some wondered if Threads would become a Twitter "killer."

By Thursday morning, Threads topped the charts for free apps on Apple's app store and was the hottest topic on Twitter.

Threads could pose a real threat to Twitter, especially as the company has faced a crisis since Elon Musk took over in October 2022 and has been running it in a rather erratic manner. Twitter has become increasingly flawed, angering users by limiting the amount of content they can view each day. And with Meta, Threads could help them expand their already large and popular app empire and create a new platform for selling advertising.

Here's everything we know about Threads so far.

What are threads?

Threads is a new app from the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The app platform shares many similarities with Twitter, primarily focusing on text posts – although users can also post photos or videos – and can chat with each other in real time.

Meta states that Threads posts have a 500-character limit. Like Twitter, users can reply to, repost, and quote other Threads posts. But the app also features Instagram's existing navigation and aesthetic design, and allows users to share Threads posts on Instagram.

Threads accounts can be set to public or private. Verified Instagram accounts will be automatically verified on Threads.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared in a Threads post after the app's launch: "Threads' vision is to create a friendly space for conversation. We hope to leverage what Instagram does best and create a new experience centered around text, ideas, and discussions of your thoughts."

Some users encountered some errors and issues related to content uploading when Threads first launched, but this was anticipated given the millions of users joining and using the app simultaneously.

How do I register? And is it possible to log out?

Users register through their Instagram account and keep their username, password, and account name the same, but they can adjust it on Threads. Users can also update the accounts they follow on Instagram, making it easier for them to get acquainted with and use Threads.

However, it's not easy to stop using the app. Meta says users can now temporarily disable their accounts on the app, and the company states that "Threads profiles can only be deleted when you delete your Instagram account." Some users have also raised concerns about the amount of personal information Threads, like Instagram, may obtain, including location, contact lists, search history, web history, contact information, and more.

Where can Threads be downloaded and used?

According to Meta, Threads is currently available in over 100 countries and more than 30 languages, and can be downloaded on Apple's iOS and Android operating systems.

Could Threads become the one to take down Twitter?

Although Threads is the latest platform to launch, just this month, with the hope of overthrowing Twitter's dominance, it may have the greatest chance of success.

Many Twitter users have expressed a desire for an alternative since Musk took over the company late last year. Frequent technical issues and policy changes have caused many users to abandon Twitter.

Meta has at least one advantage over Twitter: a massive user base. Meta expects at least a fraction of Instagram's 2 billion users to use its new platform. For Twitter, that number is only 250 million users.

“It will take time to achieve this, but I believe Threads will be a shared chat platform with over 1 billion users. Twitter had the opportunity to achieve this, but they missed it. I hope that we can succeed,” Zuckerberg shared in a Threads post.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Twitter's new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, appeared to acknowledge the emergence of Threads, but stated that Twitter is irreplaceable. She said, "We are often imitated, but the Twitter community is something that can never be replicated."

Meta's existing scale and infrastructure put it in an advantageous position. While many of Twitter's competitors have made signing up difficult for users in recent months by requiring them to join waiting lists, Threads has simplified the process, making it easy for users to get started on the platform.

But Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said in a video that the challenge new social media platforms face is often not whether registration is easy or not, but whether they can keep users engaged in the long term.

Specifically, Meta will have to find ways to prevent spam, harassment, controversial theories, and misinformation on Threads, an issue that has long frustrated Twitter users. This new app was launched after Meta laid off more than 20,000 employees since last November, including many in risk analysis, benefits, policy, and user experience. It also comes just before the 2024 US presidential election, and many experts warn of an impending wave of misinformation. Meta says it will apply its community guidelines to Threads, just like its other apps.

What else?

For Meta, Threads could be a way to increase engagement time from their massive user base.

Although there are currently no ads on the app, Threads could become another advertising sales channel for Meta. Meta's advertising business may be boosted after facing challenges from Apple's policy changes. However, Twitter shows that its platform doesn't typically attract as much advertising as Meta's other app platforms.

For Zuckerberg, the main objective may be to defeat his rival, Elon Musk, with whom he has planned a "battle in a cage." Perhaps winning the social media competition would be sweeter.

Nguyen Quang Minh (According to CNN)

Source