Instagram Threads: Meta launches its new Twitter rival amid terrible week for Elon Musk

Meta Twitter Rival (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Meta has launched its new “Threads” app, widely thought to be an attempt to succeed Twitter.

Threads is branded as an Instagram app and built by its team, but is focused on text updates, like Twitter. Users log into the separate app using their Instagram account and can then post up to 500 character text updates, which can also include photos and videos.

The app is now live on the App Store for iPhones and Google Play Store for Android. Meta has published a devoted website for Threads, though at the moment it just includes a detailed animation and a QR code to download the app.

It is now available in more than 100 countries, on both major smartphone platforms. It is not available in the European Union, however, apparently because of privacy concerns over the fact that data will be shared between different Meta apps.

(Meta)

Meta says that it has built the foundations of the app to be “open” and “interoperable” so that it can work alongside other social networks in the future. The company intends to support the ActivityPub technology that has been developed as a way of allowing other apps – such as Mastodon and Tumblr – to work together.

Twitter was not mentioned in the announcement of Threads, despite its clear competition with the app. The launch of Threads comes at a difficult time for Twitter, which has faced serious technical issues and lost some of its central functionality in recent days.

Threads is just the latest in a range of apps looking to take over from Twitter amid criticism of that service. Others, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, have struggled with technical issues and other problems.

The launch also comes as Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg plots a mixed martial arts fight with Twitter owner Elon Musk.

Meta said that Threads was intended to “take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas”. “Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond,” it said in its announcement.

A number of those influencers and celebrities had already signed up to post on Threads, Meta said. That included everyone from Netflix to Shakira, and from mixed martial arts champion Francis Ngannou to novelty song creators Ladbaby.

For everyone else, Meta said the app had been built to be easy to get started with. While users must download the separate Threads app, they can use their existing Instagram account to log in, which will bring over their username and verification status, before their profile can be customised for Threads.

Other data will be carried over from the main Instagram account, including profiles that have been blocked. Other safety features include the ability to block certain words or hide particular profiles.

Like with Instagram, the Threads feed will push content from creators that people have not explicitly chosen to follow. The main Instagram app has received some criticism from users over its heavily algorithmic feed, with users arguing that the algorithm is pushing content that they would prefer not to see over updates from people they have actually opted to follow.

Perhaps the biggest departure from both rival services and other Meta apps is the decision to allow the app to be interoperable with other similar social platforms. By building on the ActivityPub protocol, Threads will allow users to take their posts into another app, for instance, or follow updates from different platforms.

“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,” Meta said in its announcement.

The company has already announced that it plans to bring similar interoperable design to its existing, more popular apps, by integrating Instagram DMs with WhatsApp, for instance. Those tools are yet to be announced.

Meta said that in addition to adding ActivityPub support to Threads, it would also be adding “a number of new features to help you continue to discover threads and creators you’re interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real time”.