Social media giant, Meta, plans to launch Threads, a text-based conversation app, on Thursday, July 6, 2023, to compete with Twitter.
Threads, like Twitter, is “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow.”
The app’s user interface resembles that of Twitter because it allows users to restrict who can reply to posts and offers features like reposting and liking.
On the other hand, Threads users will not start from scratch when building their followers and following lists because the app will link to Instagram.
It means they will automatically have access to their current Instagram circles and lists of followers and followings.
From screenshots, it appears that users can log in with their Instagram handle and follow their current contacts on Threads. But the Meta-owned microblogging platform will exist as a standalone application.
Meta’s Threads will join a growing list of platforms vying to compete with Twitter, including Mastodon and BlueSky.
Meanwhile, Meta first introduced Threads in 2019 to compete with Snapchat. However, it dropped the product but kept the branding.
Besides, Twitter has not been the same since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022.
For instance, Twitter disclosed on Tuesday that its list-based Tweetdeck product, primarily used by businesses and news organisations, would only be accessible to Twitter Blue subscribers.
Last week, Twitter changed its policy, requiring users to sign in before viewing the site. Previously, anyone without a Twitter account could view tweets.
Later, it restricted the vast majority of users who do not pay for the platform, initially limiting unverified accounts to viewing 600 tweets daily but increasing that to 1,000.
However, Meta’s Threads app suggests it will be a cost-free service without restrictions on how many posts a user can view.
In the past, Zuckerberg has successfully adapted other people’s ideas. You might remember that Stories is similar to Snapchat, while Reels is frequently compared to TikTok.
But not all of Meta’s side projects have been successful. For instance, the company has discontinued products like the video dating platform, Sparked; the anonymous teen app, tbh; the Nextdoor clone, Neighborhoods; and the couples app, Tuned.
