Twitter‘s latest competitor is close to arrival, and unlike other alternatives, this one doesn’t require a special invite, access to, or knowledge of servers. In fact, your existing social accounts are all you need to just get started because this new Blue Bird alternative is being developed by a big presence in the social media scene.
Meta has revealed the name of its newest social media app called ‘Threads.’ The app allows users to create 500-character posts, as well as share videos and photos. According to Deadline, a preview of the app’s landing page appears on the Apple App Store, with a description that promotes the upcoming social media app as a place to “share your ideas and opinions with the world.” All users need is an existing Instagram account, and they’re good to go.
“Say more with Threads – Instagram’s text-based conversation app. Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
Threads was first announced back in May 2023 and was only open to high-profile individuals like athletes, filmmakers, and comedians at the time. It has also been reported that Meta was seeking influencers to be early adopters of the platform. People with existing Instagram accounts can merge their data, such as followers and blocked users, to enjoy the ease of use without the hassle of rebuilding their community.
While there are already alternatives on the market competing against Twitter, not many people made the move due to them being invite-only, like Bluesky, or too complicated to use, like Mastodon. Threads is said to be simple and easy to use, just like Twitter, to the point where Twitter’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is aware of its competition.
The reason why people are looking towards opting out of Twitter is due to the numerous changes made to the platform. The first was paid verification, which led to numerous impersonations and some celebrities leaving the platform. Next were API changes, which affected accounts that provide live updates like the weather. And most recently, there have been reading limits, where unverified users can only read 1,000 tweets, while paid users can read 10,000 tweets per day.
Will Threads become Noah’s ark for those wanting to leave Twitter for good? We’ll find out once the app is made available on July 6 on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.