Move over Twitter, there’s a new wannabe rival in town: Threads, brought to you by Instagram – just another one of Mark Zuckerberg’s “original” ideas.
The new Twitter imitation app was launched this morning to rival Elon Musk’s platform. Brace yourselves for a dose of criticism from the likes of Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk, who have already warned social media users about the data collection frenzy Meta is indulging in.
Getting started on Threads
Once you download the app, get ready to import all your Instagram baggage – your username, bio and any links on your profile.
You can use your Instagram account to log into Threads, but it can only be accessed by integrating an existing Instagram username to sign up. This means that for those who don’t have an account on Instagram, they would need to create one in order to become a Threads user.
The next page displays a list of all the accounts you follow on Instagram. You can either cherry pick who you would like to follow, select them all, or just skip to the next page and save yourself the hassle.
But there’s a catch.
Once you create an account, you can’t delete it without deleting your own Instagram account too. And it gives you a number, a temporary badge for your profile to let your Instagram followers know you’re on Threads. I am apparently user #9873078 – weird… but moving on.
How does it work?
The Threads app almost looks like Twitter’s long-lost sibling, but with a fresh coat of paint and some snazzy new icons. Because who needs originality when you can just copy and paste with a different colour scheme?
Just like other social media platforms, users can like, repost or reply to a post or “thread.” Posts are limited to 500 characters, which will probably come as a relief to those who are fed up with Twitter’s stringent 280-character limit. Users can include links, photos and videos of up to five minutes long.
Though the feed was slick and easy to navigate, it was filled with content from random accounts I did not follow, but maybe this will improve with time as the algorithm begins to take shape.
No DMs or hashtags
Threads boasts about ditching direct messages, hashtags, and trending lists in favor of a text-based conversation experience. Sounds groundbreaking, right? Well, not really.
Take a closer look, and you’ll realize it’s just a poor imitation of Twitter, with a sprinkle of desperation thrown in for good measure. It’s like they’re trying to reinvent the wheel but ending up with a square.
There also seems to be no search tool for users to look for specific text or phrases. But unlike Twitter, it allows users to share up to 10 photos in a single “thread.” Twitter’s limit is four images.
Privacy concerns
Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey and CEO Elon Musk have warned users that Meta will collect all kinds of data through Threads. Not hard to believe given Meta’s track record.
Dorsey shared a screenshot of the App Store listing which displayed the data requirements to join the app, in a tweet that said: “All your Threads belong to us,” mocking Meta for its horrible data privacy track record over the years. To which Elon Musk responded: “Yeah.”
Meta is notorious for its unethical data collection methods.
Twitter user @tprstly tweeted that the new app is a “privacy nightmare.”
“Meta’s new Twitter clone, called ‘Threads’, is an absolute privacy nightmare.
“Not only do they know more about you than arguably you do yourself from your posts on Facebook they are harvesting pretty much everything they can and tying it back to your identity for even more granular profiling.
“Add that to what they’ll collect from current and future Quest headsets in terms of biometrics and the ability to ‘clone’ an entire digital version of yourself isn’t too hard to imagine.
“Of course, this is just training data for Zuck’s plans to make their own AI personal assistants and his idea of generative advertising too. We sleepwalked into this. Perhaps now future generations will understand why some of us campaigned for data sovereignty and Web3,” his tweet stated, with a screenshot of the app’s data privacy policy.
In a nutshell: Threads ditches direct messages, hashtags, and trending lists, putting the spotlight on good old-fashioned text-based conversations. But let’s be honest, it looks eerily similar to Twitter.
If you’re looking for a sub-par Twitter knockoff that’s one step away from being a complete copycat, Threads might just be your underwhelming cup of tea. But as the app evolves and gains more users, there’s a glimmer of hope for improvement. Only time will tell.
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