Maybe Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg really will compete in a ring or on a tatami, as they promised. But for now the fight is on the app stores: Threads, Meta’s new social network that aims to take the place of Twitter, has been available for two days.
Ten million people installed it in the first seven hours of publication: at the moment it can be downloaded in a hundred countries, but not in the European Union, where the Menlo Park company has to deal with a fine of 1.2 billion euros for violating GDPR rules on transferring EU users’ data abroad. And it won’t be easy for advertising either: there aren’t any on Threads at the moment, but, as Instagram manager Adam Mosseri confirmed, inserting it won’t be a problem. Technically at least, because instead from the point of view of data processing it could be, at least in Europe.
How it’s done
Threads is a microblogging platform, where you can post messages up to 500 characters long, links, photos, videos up to 5 minutes long. The app’s main feed displays posts (called “threads” here) from followed accounts, along with accounts recommended by the Instagram algorithm. You can repost a thread as-is or by adding a comment, and replies are featured prominently in the main feed.
There are no hashtags, there are no private messages, for now the threads cannot be modified once published, but on the other hand it is easy to share them on other platforms. And above all, it takes about ten seconds to register, provided you have an Instagram account: the username will be the same, the blue check (for those who have it) will be transferred instantly and for free. All Instagram contacts will be notified of our arrival, and we may also automatically follow those we follow on the other social network. The move to tie Threads to Instagram and not to Facebook is very wise, because it opens up to a younger audience and more inclined to share content appreciated by young people.
Anyone under the age of 16 (or under 18 in some countries) will automatically find their profile set to private. You can control who can mention or reply to our posts. Like on Instagram, you can filter replies containing specific words, you can unfollow, block, limit or report a profile. All accounts blocked on Instagram will also be blocked on Threads.
Why right now
The resemblance to Twitter is evident, and it is equally clear why Threads has arrived just now, a few weeks before its expected launch date: disappointment with how Musk is managing his social network is growing, and the recent decision to limit to 600 tweets visible to standard users has been much criticized. A temporary measure, to prevent artificial intelligence tools from training on Twitter, the company explained. Maybe, but in the meantime, amidst malfunctions, growing fake news, fake users posing as real because 8 dollars is enough to get a blue check, Twitter today is a very different place from that platform for freedom of expression that Musk promised when bought Twitter for $44 billion on October 27 of last year. Indeed, according to a recent research by the American association Glaad, of all the social networks, it is the one that least protects the rights and image of lgbtq+ people. Not surprising, given that Musk himself does not seem so interested in the subject.
Not that Menlo Park is doing very well: apart from the long history of flops (the dating service, the marketplace, the electronic money Libra, the Portal devices), there is the great unknown of the Metaverse, which so far is only a colossal hole in the budget, to be remedied with tens of thousands of layoffs. But who knows, this time it won’t go better: Instagram has 2 billion active users, Twitter about a quarter, and so Zuckerberg could succeed where other social networks such as Hive, Bluesky and Mastodon have failed. Indeed, a fruitful collaboration could open up with Mastodon, since the two platforms are interoperable and based on a decentralized structure.
We tried Threads by downloading it from the American App Store: you can breathe fresh air, feel energy and the desire to build new communities. And if there are still few companies, there are plenty of VIPs: there’s Shakira, the Dalai Lama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, even the Doors. Elon Musk, no, at least for now.