Pivotal moment in social media or a flop in the making? Threads is here and, so far, the launch has been attention-grabbing.
Within hours, Threads had notched up 10 million users, according to Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg. That included accounts such as Netflix, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Kardashian clan, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan and more.
The user numbers are still small potatoes in comparison to Twitter, but the new Meta app may well provide Elon Musk’s service with the first serious competition it has had for some time.
The key factor? The ready-made community. Logging in to Threads gives you the opportunity to follow everyone on Threads who you already follow on Instagram. Unlike other platforms, you aren’t starting from scratch. There’s a certain comfort to logging in and seeing familiar faces filling your timeline – and making those instant connections.
[ Threads takes on Twitter - what you need to knowOpens in new window ]
So how does Threads measure up to Twitter?
The interface feels familiar, sort of a cross between Instagram and Twitter. You can doomscroll to your heart’s content even if you don’t follow many accounts. The default timeline is a mix of people you follow and people that Threads thinks you should be paying attention to. Think Twitter’s “For You” section, but less annoying (for now).
There are some features that regular Twitter users may be missing. At the moment, you can’t take a photo or video from inside the app and share it, or edit it, but you can attach one from your camera’s gallery if you want to share media.
You also can’t search the timeline for hashtags or relevant terms – you can only search for user accounts. And it is, for now, refreshingly free of ads and promoted posts for weird – and cheap – products.
But things are already changing quickly. You can now deactivate your Threads account without affecting Instagram; deleting your account is a bit more complicated. That wasn’t the case initially, with some people taking to Threads to point out that you couldn’t do either without killing off your Instagram too.
Threads has included the controversial “quote post” option that has been the cause of many a Twitter pile-on – and something that other platforms, such as Mastodon, have decided not to implement.
It is very early days for Threads. There are tweaks to be made and features that may or may not make their way into the platform. But the general atmosphere was one of glee: here is something fresh and new, and we should make the most of it before it goes the way of the old.
As more accounts hit the timeline, the puns were flowing freely, and the jabs at Twitter and its billionaire owner continued. Whether or not the initial enthusiasm lasts beyond the first flush of fomo remains to be seen.
Musk, for his part, was keeping (mostly) quiet on Twitter about the launch of its rival, tweeting only a single laughing emoji in response to a tweet claiming Threads had been built using three keys: Ctrl, C and V, in reference to copy and paste keyboard shortcuts.
One final caveat: if you are in the European Union (plus a handful of other countries), you cannot download Threads officially. Having access to the App Store in another country got me on Threads, but until Meta irons out the data protection and sharing details, we won’t see Threads officially available in Ireland.
