It seems like Marks Zuckerberg never fails to amaze the cyber world. The slogan “Say more with Threads.” of META’s THREADS app is already getting famous for its user-friendly features as a microblogging app for the users. After the official launch on 6th July, it attracted more than 10 million users within the first seven hours which is definitely praiseworthy for a fresh app.
About the App
META has only launched the initial version of THREADS. This app is built by the Instagram team for sharing text. Threads offer a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations as a microblogging app. Meta said messages posted to Threads will have a 500-character limit. The company said it was bringing the app to 100 countries via Apple’s iOS and Android. Users can customize their profile after linking their Instagram account to it.
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The look has a familiar layout, a text-based feed, and the ability to repost and quote other Thread posts. It also has the feature of blending the user’s Instagram account’s existing aesthetic and offers the ability to share posts from Threads directly to Instagram Stories. Verified Instagram accounts are also automatically verified on Threads. Threads accounts can also be listed as public or private.
META’s Future Vision for THREADS
“The vision for Threads is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation,” Zuckerberg said in a Threads post following the launch. “We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind.”
Meta intends to enhance THREADS’ compatibility by integrating it with ActivityPub, an open social networking protocol developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is responsible for establishing the open standards that drive the modern web. This integration would enable Threads to seamlessly interact with other applications that support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress. As a result, this initiative would facilitate novel connections and interactions that are currently limited on most social platforms.
THREADS’ Stance in Market against Twitter
When Zuckerberg was hit with the question if it was going to be a Billion-User Social Network Opportunity Zuckerberg responded, “There’s an opportunity for Threads to be bigger than Twitter. It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,”
The statement itself portrays how Zuckerberg is hopeful about this app being a tough contender for Twitter. Van Badham of The Guardian claims that Elon Musk creates market opportunities for his opponents by himself after his flaunting takeover of ‘Twitter” in 2022. Badham also criticized Twitter for being excruciatingly pessimistic nowadays.
Based on the 2023 Global Social Media Update released by Insider Intelligence, Twitter is predicted to experience a decrease in its user base in the upcoming years, partly due to increasing user dissatisfaction. On the other hand, Meta’s Instagram is expected to achieve significant single-digit growth this year, while Facebook is forecasted to experience modest growth of 1.0%.
EU will not launch threads yet due to its privacy policy
At the beginning of this year, the European Union (EU) determined that the legal justification provided by Meta for processing the personal data of Facebook users (performance of a contract) was deemed unlawful. Subsequently, Meta changed its justification to the legitimate interest for processing data for advertising purposes.
However, in a recent ruling on a German case referral, the EU’s highest court added to Meta’s regional challenges by stating that this legal basis is also inappropriate for running behavioural ads, emphasizing the need to obtain consent instead. According to existing EU legislation, processing sensitive information, including health data, requires the explicit consent of an even higher standard to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation. Therefore, Meta would be required to seek and obtain specific permission for processing sensitive data, such as health information.
