Meta launches Threads, a social media platform to rival Twitter

Meta launched its microblogging app Threads on Thursday, the latest of several platforms designed to rival Twitter as users jump off the beleaguered social media site.

The company behind Instagram and Facebook presented Threads as an app that does for text and dialogue what Instagram did for photo and video.

“Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his inaugural post on the app.

According to the company, millions of people signed up for the app within hours of its launch. That rush is aided by the fact that users log into a Threads account with their Instagram username and password, giving the new platform a built-in user base. Users can also import their Instagram followers list into Threads.

Twitter has left users and advertisers bleeding after a series of decisions by CEO Elon Musk, including reinstating banned accounts, laying off staff and, most recently, imposing a speed limit that limits the number of posts non-premium users can read on a daily basis.

Leap-frogging over other competitors

Competitors like Bluesky and Mastodon are among the new platforms that could take advantage of that exodus, though Threads has an undeniable advantage, according to Richard Lachman, an associate professor in the school of media at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Obviously, Instagram already has a huge install base. So by linking this to Instagram, they jump over the way that some other platforms can’t,” Lachman said.

Instagram has previously launched features meant to compete with other social media apps, such as “reels,” which rival TikTok’s short videos, and a “stories” feature to compete with Snapchat.

Posts on Threads can be 500 characters long, with the option to add links, photos, or videos. Users can follow friends or public figures (celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian have already signed up) and like, repost or comment on their posts.

“I think there are still too many choices,” said Dana DiTomaso, an Edmonton-based technology columnist and president of digital marketing firm Kip Point.

“Part of how it feels on the internet now is almost like it was back in the early days, when you had to make an effort to get things from people and it wasn’t necessarily delivered to you in an easy-to-digest way,” she said, citing cited examples such as signing up for email newsletters or RSS feeds.

Meta has plans to make Threads compatible with the decentralized ActivityPub protocol, allowing users to transfer their content to other platforms if they no longer want to use the app, the spokesperson said. That makes it usable with other platforms like Mastodon or WordPress.

“I think that’s part of why Threads is built on this open social networking protocol,” DiTomaso added. “Because they specifically said they had the idea [they] don’t want you to leave the platform when you leave, [they] wants you to be able to take your followers with you, which may be the future of the internet and open social networks.”

Concerns about data sharing

Threads will be available in 100 countries starting Thursday, but not in the European Union and other countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). That launch has Reportedly delayed due to regulatory concerns over how Meta will share user data between Threads and its sister platform Instagram.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act, which has entered into force contains provisions on data sharing between platforms.

“[Meta is] crackdowns in the EU, lawsuits in the US over issues such as privacy issues and misinformation. So they’re really looking at how to expand and grow,” Lachman added.

Some on social media have commented that currently users cannot delete a Threads account without also deleting their Instagram.

While the app is available for download in Canada, the company is still assessing how the Online News Act, or Bill C-18, will affect the ability of users in this country to view news stories on the platform, a spokesman said. spokesperson to CBC News.

Google and Meta previously said they would block access to news articles in Canada if the legislation was passed. It was adopted last month.