Zuckerberg, a well-known name in the global social media field, has subverted people's traditional social methods and moved people's social occasions from real parties to the Internet. He has always been determined to break the hegemony of Twitter and shape a new center for public online dialogue. Although Twitter's influence has stubbornly maintained its irreplaceable position, this has not made Zuckerberg give up his ambition.
On July 6, Threads was officially launched. This is a new application launched by Meta after Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which directly targets Twitter. Threads is not only named after one of the features of its competitor Twitter, but also emphasizes public dialogue in a very similar way to Twitter. Some technicians in the technology industry even call it a "Twitter killer."
Threads was developed based on Instagram users and combines elements of Instagram and Twitter. Users can follow people they already follow on Instagram. In a company-wide meeting last month, Meta executives shared that Instagram Threads will be integrated with ActivityPub, the decentralized social media protocol that Mastodon is based on.
The official and brief description of Threads on the App Store is: Threads is where the community comes together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to tomorrow's trends. Whatever you're interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who like the same things, or build your own loyal following to share your thoughts, opinions, and creativity with the world.
Soon after Threads was released, it was available for registration and download by users around the world on Apple’s App Store. BlockBeats conducted a review and experience of Threads as soon as it was launched.
Threads Review: How Does It Perform?
In the preview of the app photos displayed in the Apple App Store before it was officially launched, many users speculated that they could log in to Threads using their Instagram accounts. At the same time, Threads uses ActivityPub, a decentralized social media protocol that is also used by Mastodon. This also means that the content of Threads may be available on multiple servers, and Instagram usernames, followers, and other account information can be automatically moved to the new app Threads according to user needs.
1. Download the app
Users who pre-order and download the Threads app on July 4th can open Threads directly from the Apple App Store. After entering the page, if the user has Instagram installed, Threads will automatically recognize the user's Instagram account and provide a one-click login with the Instagram account.
2. Account Settings
After logging in with your Instagram account, you will enter the user homepage editing page. Users cannot modify their usernames here, as Threads will be directly synchronized with the Instagram account. Then you can set up your signature and personal link. Of course, you can also choose to import directly from Instagram.
Click Continue to enter the privacy settings page. Similar to Instagram, users can choose to make their homepage public or private.
Next is the Instagram account to follow. Threads will synchronize the Instagram accounts that the user follows, allowing the user to choose whether to follow them again on the Threads platform. After completion, jump to the Threads operation page, and after reading it, you can enter the application homepage.
3. Home page browsing and interactive replies
The browsing interface of Threads homepage is not much different from Twitter. Each thread only displays the first content, or three superimposed avatars will be displayed below the thread with multiple replies. After clicking on a thread, you can view the comments of other users.
The interaction method is the same as Twitter, but it has added the interaction function with Instagram. Click the share button that looks like "Telegram Fetion", and you can choose to share the thread to your own Instagram dynamic stream, or you can choose to publish it on your own Instagram in the form of a Story. On the "Dynamics" page, you can view the interactive messages between other users and yourself.
4. Privacy Settings
Some privacy settings on Instagram can be copied to Threads, and custom restriction words have also been added so that specific content that users don’t want to see will not be displayed in Threads.
The “Twitter Killer” is online at a good time
As a veteran in the business world with 20 years of experience, Zuckerberg's timing of this move was very clever and precise, as Twitter is experiencing a new round of turmoil.
We all know that since Musk acquired Twitter last year, in order to help Twitter turn losses into profits, he has had to make a series of policy changes, such as modifying Twitter's algorithm for deciding which posts are most prominent, abolishing content review rules that prohibit certain types of tweets, and completely revising the verification process for confirming user identities.
Last weekend, Musk imposed restrictions on Twitter users: verified accounts can read up to 10,000 tweets per day; unverified accounts can read 1,000 tweets; and new unverified accounts can read 500 tweets (this number has increased slightly after the frequency limit was increased). Musk explained that the restriction was to resist other companies from obtaining Twitter data through the "scraping" process. However, in the face of such restrictions, a large number of Twitter users did not buy his explanation and felt frustrated and dissatisfied. Tags and search terms such as "GoodBye Twitter" and "RIP Twitter" also appeared frequently, and some even chose to look for Twitter alternatives.
Bluesky, a social protocol funded by Jack Dorsey, has seen “record traffic” ever, thanks to Elon Musk’s introduction of a limited traffic policy on July 2. Eugen Rochko, founder and CEO of the city-state social network Mastodon, also shared data from last weekend, showing that the number of active users on Mastodon increased by 294,000, and the amount of activity posted increased by about two times.
Obviously, Bluesky and Mastodon could not fully accommodate the "refugees" fleeing from Twitter, and a big gap was torn in the social track occupied by Twitter. Therefore, at this time, Zuckerberg took decisive action and launched Threads in an attempt to occupy and fill this gap.
Threads, which was launched at this clever time, was actually in Meta's plan last year.
According to some previous reports, Meta executives began discussing how to use Twitter's chaos to gain a larger market share for Meta, such as building a competing service, an idea that gave birth to Threads.
Initially, Threads is positioned in this way. At least for now, it does not limit the amount of reading users like Twitter does.
This is a project derived from Instagram, internally codenamed Project 92. Before it was officially launched, many users speculated that they could log in to Threads using their Instagram accounts, based on the preview of the app photos shown in the Apple App Store. Therefore, Threads will probably attract existing Instagram users, new users seeking a different social media experience, and "refugees" fleeing from Twitter.
Interestingly, Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said Threads was inspired by users because they wanted a social media platform that "runs sanely," which seems to be a satire on Musk.
Apparently Musk also noticed the ridicule and responded sarcastically, "Thank God they run it so sanely."
However, many users and community members seem to be dissatisfied with the professional "sanely run" of Threads. They question whether "sanely run" implies that the application will collect all the user's data. In the iOS version, Twitter collects 7 data points and Threads collects 14 data points.
Facebook had a sensational user data leak in 2018, when former Cambridge Analytica employees exposed insider information about the abuse of Facebook data to the media. Facebook had to apologize for the illegal data collection incident, and Zuckerberg also went to the United States to participate in a 2-day, 10-hour hearing. Finally, in July 2019, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Facebook had to pay a $5 billion fine for violating privacy regulations.
The scandal has sparked public concerns about the disclosure of personal privacy by social media, so much so that someone on Twitter launched the "#DeleteFacebook" campaign. Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX also participated in the "Uninstall Facebook" campaign and deleted their Facebook accounts. "Facebook makes me sick," Musk publicly expressed this view on Twitter.
As for the most recent event, on May 22, Meta was fined $1.3 billion by the European Union for its 10-year involvement in large-scale surveillance in the United States and was ordered to stop transferring its data to US servers. This is a record-breaking fine in the history of the European Union.
Back to the fact that Threads collects so much user data, it has caused dissatisfaction among many users and community members, and also attracted the attention of Jack Dorsey, who posted a screenshot of Threads' data policy on Twitter. Musk seemed to be "gloating" and responded: "Yea."
Zama "Cage Fighting History"
Threads is named after Twitter's competitor, and its functions seem to be very similar to Twitter. Some technicians even call it a "Twitter killer." Zuckerberg's obsession with Twitter can be traced back to the early days of Twitter, when Zuckerberg proposed to acquire the company but was rejected.
Musk has been teasing and prodding Zuckerberg online about news reports that he plans to compete with Twitter. One Twitter user warned Musk, reminding him that Zuckerberg has recently been pursuing publicity in martial arts. "I can have a boxing match if he wants, haha," Musk tweeted on Tuesday night.
Zuckerberg, who has been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, responded the next day on Instagram: “Tell me where.” Musk followed up with a tweet: “If this is real, I’d do it,” and suggested Las Vegas. Throughout the night, Musk tweeted about the possibility of their duel, including mentioning that Zuckerberg was in peak physical condition.
What’s more, according to behind-the-scenes accounts from people who have heard their private complaints, the two have a deep resentment of each other, and they occasionally trade barbs in public over AI and other topics. Musk, who has been cash-starved for years, has grown frustrated watching Zuckerberg make easy money with software while he toils on electric cars and space rockets. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, craves respect for an innovator like Musk.
Related reading: "Behind Meta's launch of Twitter competitor Threads is a personal feud between Musk and Zuckerberg that has lasted for several years"
As hype about the duel between the two heats up, it also indirectly intensifies the growing competition between their business interests and injects new vitality into the battle for social media advertising revenue.
Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has faced a number of challenges in reshaping the company to his will, including a reduction in advertising spending by some brands, in part due to concerns about the company's future. In response, Musk said he needed to make major cost cuts, including layoffs, to avoid bankruptcy. Now, he says the company is on track to be cash flow positive and has hired a well-known TV advertising executive as CEO to improve relations with advertisers.
While Meta launched Threads with bold ambitions, it faces its own challenges. The Silicon Valley-based tech giant is making a big push into so-called metaverses, or immersive digital worlds. However, given that the idea of such metaverses is far from mainstream acceptance, its bold investment decision has inevitably attracted many skeptics.
In recent months, Zuckerberg has also been dealing with a series of issues for Meta, such as cost cutting and whether the company has fallen behind in the artificial intelligence race. At a staff meeting last month, he tried to rally employees by explaining the company's layoffs and Meta's vision in the field of artificial intelligence, thus integrating these elements into his virtual universe.
Despite these challenges, Meta remains Twitter's strongest competitor, with deep pockets and a user base of more than 3 billion people on Facebook, Instagram and other apps. However, platforms that have tried to exploit Twitter's weaknesses - such as Tumblr, Nostr, Spill, Mastodon and Bluesky - have far less influence than Meta.
However, can Threads, as a new "killer", really shake Twitter's position, or at least win a place in the battlefield of social media? This still needs time and market verification. Although Zuckerberg's intention and determination have been revealed, in this battlefield, only the strongest can laugh to the end.