Since Elon Musk’s highly publicized and controversial Twitter takeover last year, it’s safe to look back and assess the 44 billion-dollar worth acquisition as potentially one of the biggest L’s ever taken in the history of business-making and deal-striking.
Amidst the myriad of amendments, updates, and structural changes, which occur almost weekly, to the popular social media platform, users have been signaling loud levels of discontent, often turning to rival sites for their digital dose of dopamine that scrolling the blue-bird app once provided them with. With both Tumblr and Reddit having experienced notable increases in page visits and number of new sign-ups since the ownership switch, tech-industry leaders have taken it upon themselves to bridge the new-found gap in Twitter’s deteriorating state and shabby management.
Leading the charge in this ongoing battle to reclaim the soon-be-left vacant spot by Twitter stands Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META Platforms, a conglomerate that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and who recently welcomed a new addition to their already impressive arsenal, Threads.
Aiming to assert their state of almost monopoly in the social media landscape, the newly-introduced site has been labeled by experts and social media users as Twitter’s ultimate rival— a narrative which has since been confirmed by Zuckerberg himself, claiming that “a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it” should exist before noting that according to him, Twitter could have assumed that role but “hasn’t nailed it.”
Reaching the 10 million user benchmark 779-days before Twitter managed to back when the platform went public in 2006, Zuckerberg’s micro-blogging app might be on its way to dethroning one of the longest-standing social media giants in the industry by mimicking the recipe that’s made its success over the years and keeping it simply at just that— forget Fleets, Spaces, Circles, we’re talking basic liking and reposting, that’s it).
As the new contender is on a steady rise, for its formal introduction, we gathered all there is to know about Threads, the new social media platform poised to take over all of our phones as well as the spotlight from Twitter.
You need an Instagram account to sign up
Despite it being a totally independent and separate platform, an Instagram account is required upon registration on Threads. With this pre-requisite, the option allows new users to build on their already existing following on Instagram, find their friends and favorite accounts easily, while also keeping away the accounts they blocked on the sister website on Threads.
Threads can only be accessed on phones
The new app takes a different approach from Instagram as it cannot be accessed directly through a website. When heading to the official web portal, the platform features a QR code that conveniently redirects users to the App Store for an app-download instead.
Posts don’t show in chronological order
Unlike Twitter’s chronological timelines, Threads shows posts in an algorithmic manner, prioritizing relevance and engagement to shape users’ content consumption, interaction, and overall experience.
There’s no limit to the content users can see
Threads offers users unlimited daily post consumption which comes in contrast to Twitter which recently introduced unforeseen restrictions, allowing users a maximum of 600 posts per day, with those on a paid-monthly subscription limited to 6,000 posts daily.
You can write longer texts than on Twitter
You can make posts 500 characters long which is almost twice as much as Twitter, which only allows you to go up to 280 characters.
It’s not available worldwide yet
Citizens in the European Union are unable to download Threads as Meta, the parent company, postponed its release citing difficulties in meeting regulatory compliance requirements. According to Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, Meta intends to introduce Threads in the EU; however, due to upcoming laws taking effect in 2024, the timeline for compliance may be extended.
