Meta has launched Threads, a Twitter rival and an extension of its Instagram service. What seems to be different about Threads is that Meta is trying to make it compatible with interoperable networks.
“Just passed the 5 million sign ups in the first four hours….,” wrote Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Meta, on Threads, a text-based conversation app.
Users can use their Instagram account details for Threads. A user’s Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customise their profile specifically for Threads. Users can continue to follow the same people on Instagram or find new people to connect with.
Threads is available in 100 countries, including India, and on Android and Apple platforms. For India-based Twitter rival Koo, this could be a serious challenge. Reports suggest that Threads supports Hindi and Meta works to make all its platforms compatible with local languages.
Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. Users can share a Threads post to their Instagram story, or share posts as a link on any other platform they choose.
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Threads users can use their existing suite of safety and user controls. Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will by default put into a private profile when they join Threads.
Threads looks similar to Twitter. Meta has always made the point to launch products when the opportunity arises. It launched Instagram as Tik Tok was being banned in many countries. When Twitter is battling issues and its users are complaining, Meta launched Threads.
Meta said in a company blog post it plans to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is responsible for the open standards that power the modern web.
“This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress – allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future,” said Meta.
Meta said it has singer Shakira and chef Gordon Ramsay on board for Threads.