If you still have not heard, on July 5, a novelty called Threads was launched. According to Meta, Threads is a new app developed by the Instagram team, and it is intended for sharing text content.
In just seven hours, the app was downloaded by ten million users, including celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and many others…
Will Threads come to life in the EU?
The app is still not available in the European Union and it looks like the creators themselves do not know when it will be. The main “culprit” of the wait is the EU Digital Markets Act, which aims to protect user privacy, enable control over the use of data and mitigate the monopolistic behaviour of technology companies.
Threads collects personal data from Instagram accounts, which is particularly problematic for EU legislation that prohibits this type of communication between different platforms.
As if that were not enough, users also had to agree to share health and financial details, location history, advertising data, contact, search history, and other sensitive information. As a result, many have already expressed concern that information such as sexual orientation, religion and political beliefs could be shared with third parties.
Only those with an Instagram profile can join
While Instagram is a social network for photos and videos, Threads is primarily a text-based content app. It is possible to log in using an Instagram profile, and although it is closely related to that platform and uses the same data, it must be installed as a standalone application.
The cover shows all the threads of the people who are followed on Instagram, as well as the recommended content of the creators that the user has yet to discover. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes long. Once shared on Threads, it is possible to continue sharing them on Twitter, WhatsApp, as an Instagram story or post.
Still, there is a catch…
Once you download the app, there is no going back. Meta does not allow you to delete Threads profiles, at least not without shutting down your Instagram account!
– You can deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but it will only be deleted by deleting your Instagram user account – according to Instagram customer support.
Can Threads be a threat to Twitter (X)?
Although the two competitors are similar in their features, there are still differences in the user experience. A regular Twitter user (now called X) will notice obvious similarities: both have news sources, likes heart symbols, and the ability to repost.
However, Threads does not display posts in reverse chronological order like Twitter does – the front page is driven by algorithms. Also, posts are not limited to the profiles that the user follows, but can also see the content of those with which they are not initially associated. In addition, it does not have a hashtag option and does not allow its users to search for specific content like Twitter does. Additionally, Threads does not promote specific news and political content.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, of course, is not happy with the new app, and he also claims that Meta has hired several Twitter employees:
– Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using Twitter’s trade secrets or other highly confidential information. Twitter reserves all rights, including but not limited to, the right to seek civil legal remedies and injunctions without further notice to prevent further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.
Meta soon denied these claims.
The popularity of the app is growing, then waning…
This extended version of Instagram has attracted a large number of users in a very short time, and it can be concluded that it will experience a new peak of popularity once it arrives, if it arrives, on the European market.
However, despite the initial rise, the app’s popularity dropped after just a few days. Namely, some felt that there were not enough features, and Meta then added several new functions, allowing you to switch between the “for you” cover and the “follow” cover.
Only time will tell if Threads will be a success or not, but one thing is for sure – the platform has a number of options that will help it find its target audience, and probably those who want to try out Instagram and Twitter features in one app.
