Meta has released a new app that aims to compete with Twitter. Instagram has released a new app called Threads. It lets people use their Instagram accounts to share short posts, like text, links, photos, and videos. The app is now available for users to try out.
When it was released, Threads could be used on iPhones and Android phones in 100 countries. However, it was not available in the EU because it didn't meet the local rules about keeping people's data private. Users can use their Instagram login details to access the service. Their Instagram username and verification status will be transferred to the new platform. However, individual Threads profiles can also be changed to suit personal preferences.
The app was discovered by MoneyControl in March and then confirmed by Platformer. In June, Meta showed the app to its employees in a meeting that involved everyone in the company. More information was revealed about the app's intended users, such as famous celebrities, influencers, and artists, as well as what features it will have.
Twitter rival Bluesky, supported by Jack Dorsey, has become more popular lately because it uses its own decentralized protocol called the AT Protocol. Instagram's new app will soon support ActivityPub, which is the same protocol used by Mastodon and other federated apps.
Once that happens, Threads will be able to reach more people because Mastodon's community has 1. 7 million active users. But we don't know when Threads will actually provide this feature.
We promise to add support for ActivityPub (the protocol used by Mastodon) to this app. "We couldn't complete it in time to release because there were many issues with a decentralized network, but it will be released soon," said Instagram's leader Adam Mosseri before the launch. If you're wondering why this is important, here's why: you might someday stop using Threads, or, hopefully not, get kicked off the platform. If that ever happens, you should be able to bring your audience to another server. Being open can allow that to happen.
However, this decision also means that Threads will be competing with other Mastodon clients such as Ivory and Mammoth, which are independent apps and funded by Mozilla. Companies like Flipboard, Medium, and WordPress. com owner, Automattic, have also contributed to the development of Mastodon after many people left Twitter. But some people are worried that Meta's involvement in the open decentralized social web may mean that it wants to control this new market like Google did with web-based email, using a strategy called "embrace, extend and extinguish. "
"Instagram for your thoughts" means a platform where you can share your thoughts, similar to how you share photos on Instagram.
We don't know if Threads will become popular yet, but it's a good time for Meta to try microblogging. It's important to mention that Meta hasn't been successful in making apps that can function on their own.
Over time, the company has closed many different apps, including Hello, Moves, Paper, Poke, Camera, Home, Slingshot, Rooms, Riff, Bolt, Lifestage, Groups, Stickered, Moments, Notify, Bonfire, Lasso, Novi, and others. This includes Boomerang, Hyperlapse, Direct, IGTV, and Threads from Instagram, as well as all the experiments from its internal incubator, NPE team, such as BARS, E. gg, Forecast, Collab, Kit, Hobbi, Tuned, and more.
To use Threads, users have to log in with their Instagram username and password. The app will fill in with their current account information, such as their name, username, picture, and number of people following them. The verification will also be transferred to the new app.
This integration helps Instagram's new app get more people to sign up. The company hinted at this in leaked marketing materials by saying that with just one tap, anyone can follow the same accounts they follow on Instagram.
Another advantage of the app's Instagram integration is that it will bring users' block lists from Instagram to the app, in addition to giving them immediate access to their network. In simpler terms, it means that it follows the same rules as Instagram, so you can easily know what you can and cannot do. Users can choose who can reply to their posts.
Instagram has been trying out other ways to help users connect with each other. They started "broadcast channels" in February 2023, which let creators connect with their followers by sharing different things like text, images, polls, reactions, GIFs, and more in messages sent to users' Instagram inboxes. The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has been using the feature to send out updates about products.