Killer of Twitter or Clever-copycat? Meta Launches Threads App

On July 6th, 2023, Meta Platforms Inc (Facebook) launched yet another social media platform, and this one is called Threads, and an extension of the famed social networking app Instagram. And it’s no secret that, with the launch of Threads, Meta is trying to out-compete rival Twitter.

Since billionaire Elon Musk brought Twitter for $44 billion, the app has seen many hurdles. Notably, Musk cut some 75% of the staff at Twitter, announced it would start charging $7.99 monthly for users to get verified, and limited the amount of posts users could see daily (10,000 for verified accounts, 1,000 for free accounts). The goal is to let people pay more for using Twitter. However, that has successfully backfired, and many users have left Twitter in favour of more user-friendly ones. And that leads us to the launching of Meta’s Threads.

For rival tech companies, one mistake could mean the chance to take the lead in a close-tied market or finally eliminate the other. For Meta, Elon Musk’s fumble with Twitter has been one of those golden chances, and that’s the reason why Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has rushed to come up with a rival to Twitter. The result is a platform similar to Twitter, notably the microblogging experience Threads offers. Users can reply to a thread, see the number of likes and replies a post has received, post and repost, etc. Meta’s app can run up to 500 characters compared with Twitter’s 280-character threshold and include videos up to five minutes long. However, there are more differences between Threads and Twitter than that.

A user logging into Threads for the first time will notice they must log in with their Instagram account. And a twist Meta has added into this process, by creating a Threads account, you’re “stuck,” in the sense that one cannot delete their Threads account without simultaneously deleting their Instagram account. It’s a clever way to secure users on its platform. But it’s not necessarily a catch because the linked functionality of Instagram and Threads also brings some never-before-seen perks. For example, a user could log into Threads quickly with their existing Instagram account and choose automatically follow people they previously subscribed to on Instagram.

So what would make a Twitter user want to change to something like Threads? A plausible reason would be that users get tired (and many already are) of Elon Musk playing around with the app. No one likes the endless ads on Twitter, which appear in one’s feed every two or three posts, or the fact that one will have to pay to get “perks” previously free of cost. Although that seems more than enough reasons for Threads to defeat Twitter in the social media platform battle, experts believe that process isn’t likely to happen “overnight”.

Although Threads to many offers a more satisfying experience, Twitter will likely exist. The only change in the social media platforms market is with every action Musk makes, a portion of displeased users would transition to another platform. Meta has an opportunity to capture market share with these migrating users if it can successfully secure a vast user base. That is important because, uncoincidentally, people would want to be on a more socially active platform with more users to interact with. And that isn’t hard for Meta Platforms because it already has a user base of billions of people on its other apps like Instagram and Facebook, and the Threads app had gained tens of millions of users just days after it launched. Threads is another chance for Meta to dominate market share, attract more users, and ultimately earn more money through advertising. However, although Threads may seem like the next big internet boom, there are some issues regarding the app every user should be aware of.

Meta Platforms Inc has an infamous history of collecting large amounts of information to make more targeted ads and services, and the Threads app is no different. Looking closely at the “data linked to you” tab in the Apple App Store, it specifies every category of your personal data Meta would have access to after you download the app. Those include your location, finances, contacts, browsing and search history, sensitive info, purchases, and (surprisingly) your health and fitness data. This alarming amount of personal data that Meta can access is also why Threads is unavailable in the European Union. The EU’s Digital Markets Act regulates how platforms can use user data, and the EU executive branch hasn’t yet permitted Meta to launch the app there. And as an individual, think thoroughly before downloading the app, and always keep in mind the information Meta may be accessing.

So how has Twitter responded to Meta’s new app? The company had threatened Meta to go to court with a lawsuit over its “serious concerns” that Meta gained access to and abused the company’s intellectual property and trade secrets. However, whether Twitter will file the lawsuit is still unclear. Musk is getting desperate to keep Twitter afloat just nearly a year into acquiring it, and the launch of Threads isn’t helping his efforts.

Ultimately, we still don’t know exactly how the launch of Threads will affect Twitter and the market, though we can have some guesses at what may happen. What do you think? Are Threads copying Twitter’s features, or has the “Twitter-killer” emerged? That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading. Share and subscribe to not miss out on future news updates.