Are you using Threads app by Meta? We sure you are (if you are an avid user of Instagram) If not, Here is the short brief about this new App.
What is Threads?
Threads is a New App by Meta that is intended to compete with Twitter. It enables users to add images, videos and obviously threads posts (“like twitter”). Moreover, Threads have some similarities to Twitter in terms of real-time discussion and a focus on short messages. However, it differs from Twitter in terms of interface and functionalities. Threads is intended to be more private and intimate than Twitter.
How to use Threads?
The simplest way is to stalk others profile. Yes really. What you can do is to find out the person who is using threads. And click on the Sign (see below image). This will redirect you to install Thread app (Make sure you are on that profile of which you wish to integrate Threads). And congrats you are new user of the app. Just customize the bio or import details from Instagram.
OR
To begin,install the Threads app and choose the Instagram profile for which you wish to create a Threads account. If you have multiple Instagram accounts, you can easily SWITCH between them on the login screen.
Twitter VS Threads war
The current conflict between Twitter and Meta over the Threads platform has exposed the two social media companies’ differences. And this conflict between Twitter and Meta over Threads is likely to continue. As both companies are competing for the same users and are looking for methods to differentiate their platforms. It will be interesting to observe how the rivalry plays out and how it affects the future of social media.
Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, threatening legal action against the company’s “copycat” Threads app. According to Spiro’s letter, Meta employed former Twitter workers who had access to sensitive information, including trade secrets. Spiro claimed that Meta sent these employees to create a “copycat” App called Threads, and that the company utilised Twitter’s trade secrets and intellectual property to accelerate the development of the competitive app.
Twitter and Threads Functionality Comparison
Here are the five biggest distinctions between the platforms:
1. Accessibility
Twitter was launched over 16 years ago and began as a website. However, due to the rapid adoption of smartphones, the app was finally published for Android and iOS. Threads, on the other hand, is now accessible solely as an app, which can be downloaded via the iOS and Android app stores.
2. Account synchronisation
On Twitter, users can check in with their email address, phone number, or even import their username. The blue bird is self-contained and not linked to any other app; it only borrows log data. Whereas Threads is linked to Instagram. For this time , the only method to access Threads is through your Instagram account.
Note:- Threads cannot even be deleted without deactivating your Instagram account. However If you don’t want to delete your Instagram profile, you can deactivate your Threads account temporarily.
3. Price and verification
Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter launched a verified membership plan that included extra privileges such as increased word count, no advertisements, and the coveted blue tick. Meta quickly followed Instagram’s lead, although it only provides verification as a service.
Threads verification is imported from Instagram and is merely a blue tick. But Twitter Blue is a blue tick with additional features. Both systems charge around the same amount, (around 600-800) each month.
4. Posting
Both systems enable users to upload website URLs, videos, and photos. GIFs can be posted on both platforms. But, you have to first save the GIF to your camera roll before you can publish it on Threads. Furthermore, users can submit more photos and videos at once on Threads,
Moreover, Threads allow you to publish up to ten things in a single post, similar to Instagram’s carousel postings. Whereas Twitter has a four-POST restriction per tweet.
Twitter just added the option to modify tweets for premium users. Threads currently does not allow you to edit posts after they have been published. If users want to make changes on Threads, they must either remove the post or start a new one. However, given that Instagram and Facebook have had this capability for a long time, it is feasible that Threads may include post editing in the near future.
5. Text Limitation and Feed Curation
Twitter was previously famed for its 140-character restriction, which was later extended to 280, and with Twitter Blue, that constraint is no longer an issue. Threads, on the other hand, has a fixed limit of 500 characters.
Aside from the text restriction, there is no way to privately text someone on Threads. It lacks Twitter‘s in-app messaging. Threads not enable users to search for anything other than usernames and accounts.
In this section of the ‘fediverse,’ hashtags do not work. Threads’ feed also includes postings from everyone, regardless of whether or not a user follows the account, unlike Twitter provides two feed choices, one filtered based on user preferences and the other based on following.
6. Advertisements
Unlike Twitter, Threads is now ad-free, however this is expected to change in the near future. The CEO of Meta has said that Threads might not incorporate advertisements until it has a significant user base of around one billion users. This suggests that, for the time being, Threads intends to provide an ad-free experience, thus providing a more streamlined and focused user environment.
7. Desktop version
Twitter allows users to access its platform from any online browser. Threads, on the other hand, are specifically built as a mobile application. However, there is an official website, Threads.net.
8. Alternative text
Threads do not yet allow users to customise the alternative text (alt text) for pictures and videos published. Threads instead depend on computer-generated alt text, which may be less accessible to those who rely on screen readers. Unlike many other social networking sites, Threads does not yet enable users to contribute their own descriptive alt text, potentially limiting accessibility for visually challenged users.
9. Post embedding
Threads currently do not support embedding posts on external platforms such as blogs. If you find anything useful on Threads and want to share it on your blog, there is no way to generate an embedded post link.
Twitter, on the other hand, has long allowed users to produce embedded post links, allowing for easy distribution of tweets on a variety of sites and blogs.
Others
Though Twitter and Threads appear to be the same on paper, they provide a completely different user experience. A threads, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a work in progress. Moreover, Twitter is well-known for its trending topics function, which allows users to quickly find current events and hot debates.
Is Twitter in Danger?
In 5 days of its release, threads hits 100 million users creating a significant effect on its competitor Twitter.
Moreover, Twitter’s traffic has been steadily decreasing since early 2023.
Threads is a new app that has many features like Twitter, which has recently struggled with declining income and contentious restrictions. And, this has encouraged companies to look for a possible replacement. While Instagram is recognised for providing a more visual user experience, with its most popular features being photo-based posts and short films (known as Reels), Threads will be more text-heavy.
However, it can’t be predict that is threads can replace twitter or not, because there are yet more updates to come on this meta’s new App. And if it will provide great user experience, then might be twitter will face a big competition ahead.
Countries that are not using threads?
Users in Europe will not see it until Meta, the parent company of Threads, Instagram, and Facebook, decides to do so. According to Meta spokesman Matt Pollard, the company has not done so “due to upcoming regulatory uncertainty. Simply put, Meta is seeking clarification from the European organisation in charge of regulating such apps. According to a Time Magazine story, Meta is awaiting authorisation from the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, before launching Threads in EU nations.
Why is permission required?
This is due to a regulation voted in the EU Parliament in March 2022 known as the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation is regarded as one of the most stringent data and privacy protection laws in the world, prompted by rising worries about the ever-expanding effect of social media and huge digital corporations (such as Amazon and Apple).
Its major goal is to reduce the power of large tech companies and level the playing field for other companies, thus affecting the quality of online experiences and choices. Some platforms have been designated as “gatekeepers” as a result of this. Any firm that has a strong economic position and is engaged in numerous EU countries, or one that has a significant intermediate position, which means it connects a huge user base to a large number of enterprises, meets the criteria for this.
Meta has told Ireland’s Data Privacy Commission, the EU’s principal privacy authority, that it has no intentions to launch Threads in the 27-nation union, according to commission spokesperson Graham Doyle. The company stated that it is working on expanding the app to new countries, but cited regulatory uncertainty as the reason for delaying a European launch.
Conclusion
Twitter is a more established site with a larger reach, but Threads has some unique capabilities, such as longer video uploads and the option to import bio information and Instagram followers. Threads is still in its early phases, so whether it will be able to threaten Twitter’s supremacy needs to be discovered. It has the potential, however, to be a useful tool for creators and users who wish to share long Video.
What you take on Threads app? Have you used threads? Do share your experience in the comment section below.
