What Is Instagram Threads? Twitter Rival Set to Launch Soon

The rivalry between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg is getting pretty intense. The tech giants recently challenged each other to a cage fight and the two have been continuously targeting each other. However, this rivalry isn’t staying limited to a physical fight. 

And now, the social media giant, Instagram will soon have a Twitter-like app which will be known as “Threads, an Instagram app”. The first look of this app became available on the iOS App Store and it is set to release on July 6, 2023.

Source: App Store

Elon Musk took a dig at this app in a tweet stating, “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run.”

Twitter has been facing a lot of backlash since it was acquired by Elon Musk. In an attempt to generate revenue, the platform launched a new subscription service called Twitter Blue, which offers users a variety of features, such as the ability to undo tweets, customise their app icons, and access exclusive content.

Many Twitter users have criticised the subscription service, calling it overpriced and unnecessary. Others have expressed concerns that Twitter is becoming too commercial and losing its focus on free speech. 

Recently, Twitter also experienced a global outage, which was followed by Elon Musk imposing a limit on the number of tweets that users can read per day and gave the reason as “too much data scraping”. This move by Meta can be trouble for Twitter.  

READ| What Is the New Tweet Reading Limit by Elon Musk?

What is Instagram Threads? 

App Store describes it as: “Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”

To keep it simple, Threads will allow users to follow and connect with their favourite creators and others who love the same things. They will also be able to build their own loyal following of people who share their interests.

Source: App Store

This app will be linked to Instagram just like Facebook Messenger. According to The Verge, the app was discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, a developer, who shared the first looks of the app along with a Google Play Store link on Twitter. Now, the app shows no presence on Google Play Store. 

#Instagram has released Threads (aka Barcelona) app on the Play Store https://t.co/v82PwE5Mgm pic.twitter.com/9rox8GgZfL

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) July 1, 2023

Instagram has been testing this app for months with different celebrities and influencers. Meta Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, told The Verge “We’ve been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run, that they believe that they can trust and rely upon for distribution.”

Unlike Twitter, this app will have safety and ease of use. Chris Cox also mentioned to The Verge, “the company’s goal for the app was “safety, ease of use, reliability” and making sure that creators have a “stable place to build and grow their audiences.”

The Meta CEO is quite known for his ability to take features from other platforms and integrate them into his own platforms, often making them successful. One of the most notable examples of this is the popular Reels feature, which was launched in 2020 in response to the wildly popular TikTok app.

After being acquired by Elon Musk, there have been many emerging rivals of Twitter such as Mastodon and Bluesky. But, these platforms didn’t gain much popularity. This new platform might be a ray of hope for people who are disappointed in the services of Twitter and are looking for an effective alternative to convey their messages and enjoy unrestricted freedom of speech, 

In conclusion, only time will tell whether this new platform will be a success or not. But witnessing Elon Musk's track record with Twitter, this update by Meta is certainly worth keeping an eye on.