Meta Launches Instagram Threads in a Direct Challenge to Twitter

Meta has officially launched Threads, a Twitter-like messaging app that the firm bills as Instagram’s “text-based conversation app.”

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On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO and co-founder, announced the launch of Threads, the social networking giant’s new text-focused messaging program. Threads is Meta’s attempt to grab the tsunami of users who have abandoned Twitter due to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s frequently unexpected ownership.

Meta announced in a blog post that the Threads app is now free to download in over 100 countries on the Apple App Store and Google Play online stores. According to screenshots of Threads accessible on Apple’s App Store, the text-based social messaging app Threads matches Twitter’s visual design as a text-based social messaging app in which users may publish brief messages that others can like, share, and comment on.

People will be able to follow the same Threads accounts that they do on Instagram and respond to other public postings in the same way that they do on Twitter.

The formal release comes after Instagram offered a pre-order for Threads on the Apple App Store on Monday, stating that the app would be available on July 6. Many Instagram users have lately received offers to visit Threads directly from their Instagram accounts.

Although Threads is linked to Instagram and users can use their current Instagram IDs, the messaging service is a different app that users must download.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” Instagram wrote in the Apple App Store description of Threads. “Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions, and creativity with the world.”

According to Meta’s blog post, people’s personalized feeds on the new messaging app will include “threads” posted by other users they follow, as well as recommended material shared by authors they may not know.

People will be able to write Threads entries of up to 500 characters in length, and while the program is aimed toward text, users will also be able to share links, photographs, and videos of up to 5 minutes in length. Instagram users will be able to share their Threads posts via the app’s story feature, as well as “any other platform you choose,” according to the blog post.

According to Meta, Threads were created “with tools to enable positive, productive conversations,” and users will be able to manage who mentions or replies to them within the app.

“Like Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words,” according to the blog post. “You can unfollow, block, restrict, or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will be automatically blocked on Threads.”

At launch, Meta will not have Threads support for ActivityPub. The decentralized social networking protocol, which Mastodon also uses, would allow you to transfer your data from Threads to another site, among other things.

“We believe that this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms,” adds Meta. “Threads is Meta’s first app designed to be compatible with an open social networking protocol; we hope that by joining this rapidly growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community regardless of which app they use.”