Meta Launches Threads to Compete With Twitter

    This Week In Tech

            July 16th, 2023

    Metal Launches Threads to Compete with            Twitter

                On July 5th, 2023, Meta launched Threads. Threads is Meta's Twitter competitor, being a text-based social media app. Thread is tied to users' Instagram accounts, allowing people to sign up and log in using their Instagram account instead of a separate account. Threads differ from Twitter as it has no paid tier system and no ads on the app. It is the fastest app to reach 100 million users, achieving this feat in just five days.

                                                                                                                                                    Meta-Facebook 2023

                Many people believe that Threads is a direct response to Elon Musk's acquisition and subsequent changes to Twitter. Meta started the development of the app just months after Musk bought Twitter. Both apps have many similarities, with both being primarily text-based and both having similar user interfaces. The apps do differ in some aspects though. Threads has nearly double the character limit for posts compared to Twitter. While Twitter is accessible to anyone, Threads can only be used by Instagram users as an account is required for registration.

                Threads intense and fast growth has been met with some backlash. Many criticize it for being a carbon copy of Twitter, calling it unoriginal. There are many up in arms about Threads requiring an Instagram account, saying it hurts the image as a Twitter alternative. Getting the blue checkmark, a sign of account verification is just as difficult on Threads as it is on Instagram, needing to be either famous or pay a sum of money to get the checkmark. Many argue this is one of the things Twitter did right by allowing easier access to verification. Threads is seeing good growth, but is also seeing some opposition, and only time will tell how successful it will be.