Meta has launched Threads, a microblogging app designed to rival Twitter as many users jump ship from the beleaguered social media platform.
The company behind Instagram and Facebook pitched Threads as an app that will do for text and dialogue what Instagram did for photo and video.
“Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his inaugural post on the app.
Millions of people signed up for the app within hours of its launch — a feat helped by the fact that users log into a Threads account using their Instagram username and password, lending the new platform a built-in user base.
Twitter has been bleeding users and advertisers after a series of decisions by CEO Elon Musk, including imposing a rate limit that restricts the number of posts non-premium users can read daily.
‘Leap-frogging’ over other competitors
Competitors like Bluesky and Mastodon are among the new platforms to benefit from that drain, though Threads has an undeniable advantage, according to Richard Lachman, an associate professor in the school of media at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“Clearly, Instagram has a massive installed base already. So by hitching this to Instagram, they’re leap-frogging over the way some of the other platforms can’t,” Lachman said.
Posts on Threads can be 500 characters long, with the option to attach links, photos or videos. Users can follow friends or public figures (celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian have already signed up) and like, re-post or reply to their posts.
Some on social media have noted that users can’t currently delete a Threads account without also deleting their Instagram.
While the app is available to download in Canada, the company is still assessing how the Online News Act, or Bill C-18, will impact the ability of users in this country to view news stories on the platform, a spokesperson told CBC News.
Google and Meta previously said they would block access to news articles in Canada if the legislation was passed. It was passed last month.