If you’re tired of Elon Musk telling you to go outside and touch grass with Twitter’s new reading limit, you might be interested in Meta’s incoming social media app Threads.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the Twitter rival, including what it is and when it’s expected to launch.
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What is Threads?
Threads is a new social media app created by Meta (formally known as Facebook) to compete with Twitter.
The app is described on the App Store as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app” through which “communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow”. So, just like Twitter.
“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”, the app listing description continues.
One of the most interesting aspects of Threads is that it is marketed as an app you should use alongside Instagram as opposed to an additional feature added to the Instagram app. The screenshots in the App Store show users using the same username across both apps and finding their Instagram followers to interact with them in this new, more text-focussed space.
According to a report published by Money Control back in March, Threads will be decentralised and interoperable with fellow decentralised Twitter rival, Mastodon. Though, as TechCrunch has already pointed out, that doesn’t make sense when Instagram itself is very much centralised.
There have also been some concerns raised about privacy based on the App Store listing.
The App Privacy section includes a long list of types of data that may be collected and linked to its user’s identity, including contact info, browsing history and location. That said, most of these data types are already collected by Twitter, with exceptions being health and fitness, financial info, sensitive info and “other data”.
If you’re wondering why Threads sounds familiar, it might be because this isn’t Meta’s first attempt to introduce an Instagram companion app with that name. The company launched an app called Threads back in 2019 as a camera-first messaging app with a status update feature. However, the app closed down in 2021 after many of its features were integrated into Instagram.
When can I download Threads?
Threads is currently available for pre-order on the US App Store. According to the listing, the app will be available to download starting July 6.
