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The Instagram-powered text-based app Threads by Meta has been launched much earlier than its expected schedule of 7:30 PM IST on July 6. Cutting short the launch time by 15 hours, the platform went live at 4:30 AM IST. Both the iOS and the Android version of the app is available to download and install. The platform, which is going to rival Twitter, has seen a massive surge of users as soon as it went live. In just two hours, the app has witnessed registration of more than 2 million users, as per a report by The Verge. Let us take a look at this new social media platform.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, told The Verge that he acknowledges that Twitter has pioneered the text-based social media platform but “just given everything that was going on, we thought there was an opportunity to build something that was open and something that was good for the community that was already using Instagram”.
Mark Zuckerberg posted on his rarely-used Twitter account right after the launch to post a meme about how Twitter and Threads are quite similar.
Features of Threads app
Much similar to Twitter in functionality, Threads allows you to make text posts with up to 500 characters. You can also share photos and videos that are up to 5 minutes long on the platform. In short, you can do everything you did on Instagram, plus text posts. You cannot post stories on Threads yet, however.
The app interface is quite minimalistic with the home page consisting of your post feed. Each post has options for like, comment, repost, and share. The app also comes with a dark theme. Overall, visually it is pretty similar to Twitter.
The consensus on what the posts on Threads can be called is still out there. While some are calling ‘threads’, others are sticking with ‘tweets’ due to the similarity. Adam Mosseri replied to a post by The Verge that said jokingly “Is this a tweet” with “kind of…”. Maybe these posts will be known as ‘threets’.
As the Threads app has been built based on Instagram, existing users of the platform can log in with their Instagram account and follow their list on Threads as well. There is a web interface of the platform as well at threads.net.
Similar to Instagram, the home page has a combination of both content from those you follow and content recommended to you. As per The Verge, Threads is also getting Instagram’s suite of privacy settings including filtering replies, limiting who can reply to your threads, and more.
The decentralized features, also known as fediverse, will not be available right at launch. During the login process, a short message does reveal that it will be added soon. On the fediverse aspect of the app, Meta said, “Threads is Meta’s first app envisioned to be compatible with an open social networking protocol — we hope that by joining this fast-growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community, no matter what app they use”.
Threads has been launched in more than 100 countries, including India, US, UK, and Australia. However, it will not be available in the European Union nations at launch. It is believed that the current AI act, which is likely to come into effect next year can be part of the reason behind not launching it in the EU.
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