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A new Twitter Alternative named Threads is set to arrive this week and it's being developed by Meta, founders of social media platform Facebook.
According to the Apple AppStore, Threads is set to release on July 6th 2023 and is described as a "text-based conversation app". The app will integrate seamlessly with your Instagram accounts, populating your Threads account with followers from Instagram.
Twitter has been making the news recently for more controversial decisions than good ones; at the beginning of July 2023 Twitter introduced Rate Limits to all its users, meaning they were only able to view a certain limited number of tweets. Paying customers (blue tick Twitter users) can see 10,000 tweets whereas unverified users can only see up to 1,000 Tweets per day.
To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023
- Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day
- Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day
- New unverified accounts to 300/day
Whether the rate limits feature is a temporary measure or a permanent feature of Twitter, no one is quite sure.
Twitter also blocked unregistered users from viewing Twitter the week before, meaning you now need an account to access tweets of your favorite Twitter accounts.
Twitter isn't the only social media company causing controversy this month either; Reddit recently announced it was going to start charging access to it's API and this has pretty much priced-out third-party developers, leading to a Reddit-Blackout.
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Threads - a Facebook / Meta app
Threads has long been rumored to be in development as a Twitter Rival, although not much has been shown of the app until today. It is developed by Meta, Facebook's parent company that oversees popular apps such as Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook.
Threads will work very similarly to Twitter; you'll be able to post short-formed messages, follow your favorite creators and get the latest news.
You won't have to start from scratch with Threads either; it is going to integrate seamlessly with your Instagram account and allow any followers you have other there follow you on Threads.
With Instagram being one of the most popular apps in the world, Threads is likely to see an explosion of growth as soon as it releases.
Thread's release comes at the perfect time that Twitter is embroiled in a perfect storm. Many users are flocking to look for other Twitter Alternatives, such as Bluesky, which is invite-only currently. Whether Threads has a staggered release or opens the floodgates, no one quite knows yet until Meta announces.
Threads reported web portal address will be https://www.threads.net/. Right now it just shows a blank page!
For developers who recently got frozen out of Twitter's free API source, this can be good news; Meta is usually quite happy to allow third-party developers use their apps' API to build tools around it, even if the on-boarding process can be quite confusing.
Threads - Privacy Concerns
If you're already using Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram, you'll know they request access to a lot of your data, according to the App Store on Apple.
Threads is no different in this regards. You can see that they request access to a lot of your data such as contact details, location and health & fitness data. This is pretty much the same as what Instagram and Facebook apps do.
That's not to say that Twitter does not collect your personal data either; you can view their app on the App Store and see similar requests for your personal data.
Will you be joining Threads when it releases or are you staying loyal to Twitter? Leave a comment below!
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