A New Competitive war has started between Instagram’s newly launched Threads App and Twitter. For the longest time, Twitter was a standalone textual platform in the world of social media that was interested in initiating conversations, debates, and exchanging ideas. This platform was not for content creators or entertainers, it was for a serious audience that wanted to convey a message to a larger audience for a larger purpose. However, Threads by Instagram’s parent company Meta have taken the world by storm by releasing Instagram’s Thread App. Already thirty Million people had downloaded the app. Threads is the most rapidly growing App of 2023. According to Adam Mosseri, Head of the Instagram App, this new platform thread is exclusively designed for public conversations that are difficult to take place.
Instagram’s Threads App: For Public Conversations
It is interesting to notice that Twitter was initially marketed as a conversation starter and Threads is marketed in the same way. This is raising serious concerns among the public about the future of Twitter, which is already facing backlash from audiences for its new policies and the unpredictable environment that it has created for its users. Elon’s strange policies such as charging users for a verified account and limiting the number of tweets for users; are deeply criticized by audiences. Twitter is now getting seen as a platform that wants to control audiences and their opinions. In times like this, Threads by Meta is seen rival and competitor of Twitter.
According to Mosseri, Threads is aimed at an audience of instagram users that are already using it for visual message delivery and entertainment. It gives instagram users a chance to engage in public conversation by writing their thoughts and views. Meta has tried to ease this onboarding process for Insta users, by allowing them to log in to Threads App through instagram accounts. All their instagram friends and followers will be shifted directly to the threads App.
Features on Instagram’s Thread App :
- Many Features on Threads are similar to Twitter. The main feed of the App shows posts that are called threads from all the accounts that the user follows, just like Instagram. Feed also shows recommendations based on instagram following. Thread users can repost the thread with their own commentary and captions, just like Twitter. All the replies on the thread will be visible on the main feed.
- Posts on the thread can be up to 500 characters including text, images, and video. 5minutes long video can also be shared. For now, no Ads can be placed on a thread, but it can change in the future. Unlike Twitter, no account verification scheme is present to get access to specialized features. Instagram’s blue tick of verified accounts will post to threads automatically.
- Moderation policies for threads will apply only to threads, not Instagram. For example, if anyone shares an inappropriate image of a child, the violator’s account will be moderated by Meta. However, such a user’s instagram account will remain safe from moderation or ban. This policy can change in the future.
- Users will be able to share threads on other instagram. Later this feature will be made available on all other social platforms.
For now, Threads on instagram is available in 100 countries, all over the world but countries that are part of the European Union (EU), can’t have access to this app due to the complex compliance policy of the EU.
Twitter VS Threads by Meta:
Twitter is considered a rival of threads due to its contextual life of content. Both platforms share various similarities, but they also share some differences. The following chart shows how these platforms are similar or different from each other.
All the features that are offered on Instagram’s thread App are available to it all users, unlike Twitter where character limits and video-sharing features vary from unpaid to paid users. On Threads, all verified and unverified accounts can write up to 500 characters in each thread and share a 5-minute video on each thread. On Twitter video sharing limit for unverified unpaid users is 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
Sharing posts with their own commentary and reposting features is the same on both Apps. The interface of Threads is not similar to threads. The threads interface is very similar to Instagram’s interface and has no daily thread limit.
No Direct Messages DMs for Threads:
According to Adam Mosseri, for now, threads is not facilitating the direct DM feature in the application because he thinks the majority of social media are doing that and many social media users are having inbox fatigue due to too many messages. The aim of meta is to let people engage in real open conversations. Users can share those conversations in DMs of other social Apps, especially instagram Direct Messages. He wanted to keep the model of this new app simple and engaging.
Terms, Conditions, and Community Guidelines for Threads by Meta:
For now, all the terms and conditions of instagram are applicable on the threads App as it is largely made for the instagram community who want to engage in textual public conversations.
Will Twitter Suffer Heavy Damage Due to Launch of New App?
There is a lot of buzz on social media about the position of Twitter in the presence of the newly launched Thread. Many people consider it an end to Twitter, which will not be the case. According to Adam Mosses, In this new age, people love social media and social creators want to have multiple social media presences. Users don’t rely on one platform for reaching their targeted consumer base. There is plenty of space for different social media apps to exist.
In short, Twitter is an old platform that has a loyal customer base, even if Twitter viewers start using threads, it doesn’t mean that they will quit using Twitter. In this time we have so many examples of different social media platforms being competitive and still growing side by side. Only improvement comes out of good competition. However, only time will tell the actual impact that thread will have on Elon Musk’s Twitter. It all depends on the competitive strategy that will be used by Twitter to handle its user base and attract new users.
FAQ: Threads App by Meta
Why Threads APP from Meta is not available in Europe?
Threads is available in 100 countries of the world except for countries that are part of the European Union EU due to complexities with the laws. Threads App needs time to comply with all the rules and regulations. It wants to comply with all the paperwork and not leave anything in the middle just for the sake of launching. It’s difficult for Content creators in Europe to not get access to threads APP, but eventually, it will be made available to them. The exact time frame that will be required for law compliance is still unknown.
How to Login To Threads?
Users can log in to threads through their already existing Instagram Account.
Threads App is for which type of audience?
Threads App is for casual popsters and content creators who like to read and share information in textual form. Its aim is to take the model of instagram and expand it to a written version to enable people to share what’s on their minds and initiate conversations. Users can connect with family members and content creators, just like instagram.
Is threads an alternative to Twitter?
Threads is a platform that can be used for public discussions just like Twitter, However, it has a different model than Twitter. So, in the initial phase threads won’t be an alternative to Twitter but this can change in the future depending upon Twitter’s competitive policies and Thread’s potential to create demand. Only the future can decide if it can be replaced or not. Twitter and Threads both have strong competitive advantages over each other.
How to use Instagram’s Threads App?
Threads App can be downloaded from the Play Store or Apple Store. Users can simply login through the already existing Instagram Login Id. Its user interface is similar to instagram so it can be easily used for textual posts named Thread, which will be visible on the news feed. All users will be able to comment on the thread in its comment section. One can also repost a thread with one’s own thoughts.
Who owns Instagram’s Thread App?
Adam Mosseri is the head of Instagram who owns the thread. However, Meta is the parent company that owns instagram and Threads. So Mark Zuckerberg is the actual owner of Threads App.
In which countries threads is available?
Threads is available in 100 different countries worldwide except countries that are part of the EU.
How is threads different from instagram?
Threads is a textual message-sharing platform, unlike instagram which is a photo and video-sharing platform. Users can initiate public conversations on Threads App by Meta. Reposting already existing content with the user’s own videos and captions is not possible on instagram but on Threads App users can repost someone’s textual post aka thread with one’s own views, just like Twitter. So Threads is different from instagram in terms of purpose and functionality, however, it uses the same model and privacy policies as instagram.
