Guess what? Meta just dropped its new messaging app called Threads, and it’s like Instagram’s version of Twitter. Mark Zuckerberg himself announced the release. Threads is here to catch all those Twitter refugees who bounced due to the unpredictable Elon Musk drama over at Tesla and SpaceX.
The app is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in over 100 countries for free. From the screenshots available, Threads has that Twitter vibe, where you can post short messages, get them liked, shared, and commented on. You can follow the same accounts you stalk on Instagram and reply to public posts, just like you do on Twitter.
Zuckerberg said Threads had crossed 5 million sign ups within the first four hours. Instagram recently teased Threads with a pre-order on the Apple App Store, and they hinted it would officially drop on July 6. Although Threads is linked to Instagram and lets you use your existing IG username, it’s a separate app that requires downloading.
According to Instagram’s App Store description, Threads is the place where communities gather to discuss everything they care about, from today’s hot topics to tomorrow’s trends. You can follow and connect with your favorite creators and find people who share your passions. Plus, you can build your own following to share your thoughts, opinions, and creativity with the world.
Threads will fill your individual feed with threads posted by the accounts you follow, as well as recommended content from creators you might not know. You can unleash posts up to 500 characters long, and even though it’s focused on text, you can also share links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes long. Oh, and you can share your Threads posts on Instagram stories and other platforms too.
Meta claims they’ve designed Threads to foster positive and productive conversations. You have control over who mentions or replies to you within the app. Just like on Instagram, you can filter out replies with specific words you don’t want to see. And if someone’s bothering you, you can unfollow, block, restrict, or report their profile.
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Twitter has been going through some rough times lately, thanks to Elon Musk’s ownership. He recently slapped a limit on the number of tweets users can see each day to combat excessive data scraping and system manipulation. Needless to say, Twitter users weren’t thrilled about this “rate limit” thing and found the whole experience less engaging.
Here’s where it gets interesting. BlueSky, another messaging app backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, saw a surge in traffic after Musk dropped the Twitter rate limit bomb. They had to temporarily pause sign-ups to handle the influx of users. Just like BlueSky, Threads also uses decentralized technology, giving users more control over their data across different apps.
“If you have a public profile on Threads, this means your posts would be accessible from other apps, allowing you to reach new people with no added effort,” Meta said in the blog post. “If you have a private profile, you’d be able to approve users on Threads who want to follow you and interact with your content, similar to your experience on Instagram.”