Things to know about Threads

Threads is off to a strong start.

As of Thursday morning, July 6, 2023, the app had attracted 500 million subscribers, including a large number of brands, celebrities, journalists and many other prominent accounts, the company said.

The feeling around Threads on Wednesday night was like the first day of school, with customers rushing to try out the app and write their first posts. Some wondered if Threads would become the Twitter killer.

As of Thursday morning, Threads was at the top of the free app charts in Apple's App Store, and was the hottest topic on Twitter.

Threads could pose a real threat to Twitter, which has been in turmoil since Elon Musk took over the company in October 2022 and has run it in a haphazard manner. Twitter has become increasingly flawed, and has angered users by limiting the amount of content they can see each day. And with Meta, Threads could help expand its already popular app empire and create a new platform for selling ads.

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 platform is similar to Twitter, focusing primarily on text posts — although users can post photos or videos — and chatting with each other in real time.

Threads posts are limited to 500 characters, Meta says. Like Twitter, users can reply to, retweet, and quote other Threads posts. But the app also has Instagram’s existing navigation and aesthetic, and it lets users share Threads posts to Instagram.

Threads accounts can be set to public or private. Verified Instagram accounts are automatically verified in Threads.

“The vision for Threads is to create a friendly space for conversation,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Threads post after the app’s launch. “We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around writing, ideas, and talking about your thoughts.”

Some users encountered some bugs and issues with posting content when Threads first launched, but this was to be expected as millions of users joined and used the app at the same time.

How do I sign up? And can I log out?

Users sign up through their Instagram account and keep their username, password, and account name, but they can customize it on Threads. Users can also update the accounts they follow on Instagram, making it easier for them to get started and use Threads.

But it’s not easy to stop using the app. Meta says users can temporarily deactivate their accounts on the app, and the company says “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, has access to, including location, contacts, search history, web history, contact information, and more.

Where can Threads be downloaded and used?

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

Could Threads Be the Twitter Killer?

While Threads is the latest platform to launch, just this month, hoping to unseat Twitter, it may have the best chance of success.

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

Meta has at least one advantage over Twitter: its user base. Meta hopes to get at least some of Instagram's 2 billion users onto its new platform, compared to Twitter's 250 million users.

“It will take time to get there, but I believe Threads will be the universal conversation platform with over a billion users. Twitter had the opportunity to do this, but they blew it. I hope we can succeed,” Zuckerberg shared in a Threads post.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino appeared to acknowledge Threads’ presence, but declared that Twitter is irreplaceable. “We are often imitated, but the Twitter community is something that can never be replicated,” she said.

The scale and existing infrastructure will put Meta in a strong position. While many of Twitter's competitors have made it difficult for users to sign up in recent months by requiring them to join a waiting list, Threads has made it simple, making it easy for users to get started on the platform.

But Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said in a video that the challenge facing new social media platforms is often not whether it's easy to sign up, but whether it can keep users engaged over the long term.

Specifically, Meta will have to find a way to prevent spam, harassment, controversial theories, and false news on Threads, which has long frustrated Twitter users. The new app comes after Meta cut more than 20,000 employees since November last year, including many risk analysts, benefits, policy, and user experience employees. It also comes just before the 2024 US presidential election, when many experts warn of a wave of misinformation coming. Meta said it will apply its community guidelines to Threads, like other apps.

What else?

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

While there are no ads on the app right now, Threads could become another channel for Meta to sell ads. Meta’s ad business could get a boost after facing challenges from Apple’s policy changes. Still, Twitter has shown that its app platform doesn’t typically attract as many ads as Meta’s other apps.

For Zuckerberg, the main goal may be to defeat his rival, Elon Musk, with whom he has planned a “cage fight.” Perhaps victory in the social networking competition will be sweeter./.

Nguyen Quang Minh (According to CNN)

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