Twitter killer? Meta launches ‘Threads’ app

MANILA, Philippines — Within a few hours after its launch, millions worldwide have already signed up for social media platform Threads, developed by tech company Meta to compete against billionaire Elon Musk’s Twitter.

Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg celebrated “10 million sign-ups in seven hours” in his official account on Threads.

Featuring an interface similar to Twitter, Threads was built “with tools to enable positive, productive conversations.”

The statement appears to be directed at Twitter, which has faced numerous controversies and issues following Musk’s acquisition last year.

“Whether you’re a creator or a casual poster, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations,” Meta said in a statement ahead of the new platform’s global launch on Thursday.

“Our vision with Threads is 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. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls,” it added.

Existing or new Instagram accounts must be used to sign up for Threads.

Their feed will show “threads” by people they follow, as well as recommended posts from new creators.

Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos and videos up to five minutes in length, longer than those allowed by Twitter for non-verified users.

While not unique to its platforms, Meta highlighted features that would enable Threads users to restrict content that they see.

“Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. 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 automatically be blocked on Threads,” it said.

“The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads,” it added.

Interoperability

Another key feature is Meta’s plan to make Threads compatible with open, interoperable social networks, describing it as something that “can shape the future of the internet.”

“We are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web,” said Meta.

“This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress – allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future,” it added.

With the feature, Meta said users will have the option to stop using Threads and transfer their content to another service.

This will allow people using compatible apps to follow and interact with Threads users without having a Threads account. 

“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. 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,” said Meta.

“The benefits of open social networking protocols go well beyond the ways people can follow each other. Developers can build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation,” it added.

Meta stressed 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.”

Aside from interoperability, the company said it plans to introduce more features on Threads, including improved recommendations in the feed and a more robust search function.

The new social media platform was made available in 100 countries for iOS and Android users.