Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Prime Minister of Yemen’s Houthi Government Killed in Israeli Strike

1 day ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

2 days ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

2 days ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

2 days ago

Wall Street Falls as Dell, Nvidia Drive Tech Losses

2 days ago

US Denies Visas to Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly

2 days ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

3 days ago

Ford Recalls Nearly 500,000 Vehicles Over Brake Fluid Leak

3 days ago

Fresno-Bound Passenger Says Delta Attendant Slapped Him, Seeks $20M

3 days ago
Meta Takes Aim at Twitter With the Launch of Rival App Threads
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
July 6, 2023

Share

Meta has unveiled an app called Threads to rival Twitter, targeting users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk.

Threads is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.”

It went live late Wednesday in Apple and Google Android app stores, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying 10 million people had signed up in the first seven hours. There were some early glitches, including Zuckerberg’s posts — or Threads as they’re dubbed — not loading in several places including the United Kingdom, India and Lebanon. But his replies to other users did appear.

Threads launched in more than 100 countries — including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan — and has already drawn celebrity users like chef Gordon Ramsay, pop star Shakira and actor Jack Black as well as accounts from Airbnb, Guinness World Records, Netflix, Vogue magazine and other media outlets.

The Twitter-like microblogging experience suggests that Meta Platforms has been gearing up to directly challenge the platform after Musk’s tumultuous ownership has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have turned off users and advertisers.

Zuckerberg said in some early replies on Threads that he’s focused on making the app “a friendly place,” which will “ultimately be the key to its success.”

“That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently,” he wrote.

On Threads, there are buttons to like, repost, reply to or quote a thread, and users see the number of likes and replies that a post has received.

Posts are limited to 500 characters, which is more than Twitter’s 280-character threshold, and can include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long.

Despite that, Meta said its “vision is that Threads will be a new app more focused on text and dialogue, modeled after what Instagram has done for photo and video.”

Instagram users will be able to log in with their existing usernames and follow the same accounts on the new app. New users will have to set up an Instagram account.

Privacy Concerns Raised

Meta emphasized measures to keep users safe, including enforcing Instagram’s community guidelines and providing tools to control who can mention or reply to users.

Meta’s new offering, however, has raised data privacy concerns.

Threads could collect a wide range of personal information, including health, financial, contacts, browsing and search history, location data, purchases and “sensitive info,” according to its data privacy disclosure on the App Store.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey pointed it out in a snarky tweet saying, “All your Threads are belong to us” that included a screenshot of the disclosure. Musk replied “yeah.”

One place Threads won’t be rolled out is in the European Union, which has strict data privacy rules.

Meta has informed Ireland’s Data Privacy Commission that it has no plans yet to launch Threads in the 27-nation bloc, commission spokesman Graham Doyle said. The Irish watchdog is Meta’s main privacy regulator for the EU because the company’s regional headquarters is based in Dublin.

The company is working on rolling the app out to more countries but pointed to regulatory uncertainty for its decision to hold off on a European launch.

Analysts said its success is far from guaranteed, citing Meta’s track record of starting standalone apps that were later shut down. Also in question is whether it’s the right move for Meta, which announced tens of thousands of layoffs over the past year amid a tech industry slowdown.

Zuckerberg also has been focusing on the metaverse, investing tens of billions of dollars in the virtual reality concept.

Meta risks “spreading itself too thin,” said Mike Proulx, a research director at Forrester, a global market research company. “Meta is banking on a moment in time amidst peak Twitter frustration. However, this window of opportunity is already flooded with Twitter alternatives including BlueskyMastodonSpill, Post.News and Hive, which are all competing for Twitter’s market share.”

Even so, Threads could be a fresh headache for Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion.

He’s made a series of changes that have triggered backlash, the latest being daily limits on the number of tweets people can view to try to stop unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data. He also is now requiring paid verification for users to access the online dashboard TweetDeck.

Musk’s rivalry with Zuckerberg could end up spilling over into real life. In an online exchange the two tech billionaires seemingly agreed to a cage match face-off, though it’s unclear if they will actually make it to the ring.

Amid the Threads launch, Musk responded to a tweet showing a screenshot of him saying he deleted Instagram in 2018 because it was “weak sauce.”

“It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” he said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

DON'T MISS

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

DON'T MISS

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

DON'T MISS

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

DON'T MISS

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

DON'T MISS

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

DON'T MISS

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

DON'T MISS

Labor Day Quiz: Do You Know What a Knocker-Upper Is?

DON'T MISS

Bulldogs Check All the Boxes in Runaway Win Over Georgia Southern

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

UP NEXT

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

UP NEXT

Dollar Trades Lower With Fed Cut In View, On Course For Monthly Drop

UP NEXT

New $250 Visa Fee Risks Deepening US Travel Slump

UP NEXT

Lawsuit Links CA Teen’s Suicide To Artificial Intelligence

UP NEXT

Hearing Ends Without Ruling On Trump’s Firing Of Fed Governor Cook

UP NEXT

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

UP NEXT

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

UP NEXT

Trump Moves to Permanently Cancel Funding in Rare Move Around Congress

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

9 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

9 hours ago

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

9 hours ago

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

9 hours ago

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

9 hours ago

Labor Day Quiz: Do You Know What a Knocker-Upper Is?

9 hours ago

Bulldogs Check All the Boxes in Runaway Win Over Georgia Southern

20 hours ago

Judge Blocks Pillar of Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign

1 day ago

Classic Cars Will Still Need a Smog Test in California After Lawmakers Reject Jay Leno Bill

1 day ago

Visalia Driver Arrested for DUI After Multiple Crashes and Pedestrian Injured

1 day ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

A lightning-sparked wildfire, the Garnet Fire, in the Sierra National Forest has burned 18,748 acres in Fresno County and remains at 8% cont...

8 hours ago

Photo: USDA - Forest Service Tanker 40 at Fresno Air Attack Base. The Fresno County Garnet Fire in the Sierra National Forest has burned 18,748 acres and is 8% contained as crews make progress on containment lines while bracing for possible thunderstorms early this week. (Sam Wu/USFS)
8 hours ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, August 31, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
9 hours ago

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

Demonstrators hold a banner during the 'March for Australia' anti-immigration rally, in Sydney, Australia, August 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
9 hours ago

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

President Donald Trump walks on the grounds of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, U.S., August 30, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
9 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

Activists Yasemin Acar, Greta Thunberg and Thiago Avila attend a press conference before the departure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian expedition to Gaza, at the port of Barcelona, Spain August 31, 2025. (Reuters/Eva Manez)
9 hours ago

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

National Guard troops wear gas masks during protests against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

A view of tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive, in Gaza City, August 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend