As of Thursday, 30 million people have already downloaded Threads, a new app from Meta that is seeking to do what Twitter did before it became a toxic, broken sludge zone.
Threads, which is being pushed hard by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, piggybacks on another Meta offering, Instagram. You're required to have an Instagram account to use Threads and the free app, which is at the top of the Apple charts, can easily follow all the accounts you're already following on Instagram. This alone gives Threads a pretty big advantage over other Twitter replacement apps.
What replacement apps? Well, there's Spill, a new app aimed at a Black and queer audience that we told you about recently. There's Mastodon and Bluesky, which are also trying to dethrone Twitter, but without the massive user base that Threads is already building.
Related: If Twitter Dies, What Happens to Black Twitter?
So far, Threads feels just like Twitter, minus some features. Early reviews (and yes, there's already a bunch of reviews for the just-launched app) suggest a lot of missing features; you can't only view posts of those you follow, you can't delete Threads without deleting your Instagram account, there's no web interface (meaning you have to use the app), and there's no search function yet for posts. There's not even DMs. It's not available in Europe, either.
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Because it's from Meta, you might want to think about the company's track record on privacy issues. Facebook has always been problematic on that front and Threads won't likely stray far from that pattern. TechCrunch is already calling the new app a "privacy nightmare."
Worth it? We'll have to see. For now, expect Threads to blow up until users figure out whether it's worth sticking around or not. (P.S. - Find us there!)
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