Discover Meta’s Threads: Everything You Need to Know and How to Use It!
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has returned to his roots by creating social networks that foster engagement and conversation. Threads, a microblogging platform introduced by Meta, has gained over 10 million users within hours of its global launch. This is a promising indication that Meta’s Threads could be a viable alternative to Twitter. The challenge is for Meta to maintain user privacy and safety on this new mobile-only app to sustain this growth and potentially attract users from other platforms like Elon Musk’s Twitter. The popularity of Threads underscores the importance of having a secure and impartial space where individuals can share their views and opinions without censorship.
Let’s dive deeper into the further details related to Meta’s threads:
What is Threads?
Meta’s Threads is a recently launched app by the same parent company as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It has a similar appearance to Twitter, featuring a feed of mainly text-based posts, though users can also share photos and videos, and engage in live conversations. The app limits messages to 500 characters and allows users to respond, repost, and quote others’ posts, like on Twitter. Additionally, the app incorporates Instagram’s design and navigation, allowing users to share posts from Threads to their Instagram Stories directly.
Users can choose to make their accounts public or private on Meta’s Threads. Additionally, verified Instagram accounts are automatically verified on Threads. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, Threads aims to provide a welcoming and open conversation space, utilizing Instagram’s strengths to create a new text-based experience. Although some users encountered technical difficulties shortly after the app’s launch, this is typical for any app that experiences a surge in usage from millions of users.
Everything you need to know about Meta’s Threads:
First, you need an Instagram account, as Threads requires you to use your Instagram login details to sign in. Once you launch your account, your Instagram username will automatically appear, but you can customize your profile. Note that users under 18 will receive a default private profile.
To make things easier, you can quickly follow the same accounts you already follow on Instagram by simply clicking a button. This way, you won’t have to start from scratch on Threads. When you create a post or “Thread,” you can choose who can view it – the whole world or your followers.
On Meta’s Threads, you’ll see people you follow and suggested content from creators you haven’t seen before. You can create a post with up to 500 characters and add links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes long. Sharing your post is easy – you can either share it on your Instagram story or share a link to it on any other platform of your choice.
Threads was designed with features that promote positive and productive conversations. You have the ability to manage who can mention you or respond to your threads. Like Instagram, you can use hidden words to filter out replies containing specific words. Additionally, you can take various actions, such as unfollowing, blocking, restricting, or reporting a profile by accessing the three-dot menu. Any accounts you have previously blocked on Instagram will also be blocked on Threads.
Comparing Meta's Threads to Twitter
The competition between Meta’s Threads and Twitter is more than just a hypothetical fight between Musk and Zuckerberg. Threads’ integration with Instagram could attract new users quickly. However, Twitter’s recent change of limiting posts to 10,000 for verified users, 1,000 for unverified users, and 500 for new unverified users may lead to a drop in subscribers and advertisers. Some critics also point out that Meta is capitalizing on Twitter’s current issues and that Threads had a failed launch.
The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, believes that Twitter’s instability under Elon Musk’s leadership gave Instagram an opportunity to compete. Mosseri explains in an interview that the purpose of Instagram’s Threads feature is to facilitate public conversations, similar to what Twitter has aimed to do in the past.
Threads is very similar to Twitter in important aspects. The primary feed of the app displays posts from accounts you follow and accounts suggested by Instagram’s algorithm. You can repost content with your comments, and responses are displayed prominently in the main feed. There is no feed exclusively for the accounts you follow, but this feature may be implemented in the future.
Will Threads and Twitter be competing in the near future? Stay tuned for updates!
