Elon Musk's social media company Twitter may soon face competition from Meta, which plans to release a new app that appears to work like Twitter.
What Is Threads App?
Threads, the new software, has been advertised on Apple's App Store with a release date of Thursday, July 6. The description implies a microblogging experience similar to Twitter and describes the program as a "text-based conversation app" connected to Instagram.
"Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow," according to the app description, as reported by AP News.
From the images included in the App Store specification, Instagram users will be able to preserve their user names and follow the same profiles in the updated app.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted, "All your Threads belong to us," to which Elon Musk responded, "Yeah." The message included a screenshot from the App Store's privacy area, revealing what information the new Meta app may acquire.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last year and has been making changes that have frightened advertisers and turned off users, such as new daily limitations on the number of tweets individuals can access. Right now, he may have a new problem on his hands with Threads.
All your Threads are belong to us https://t.co/FfrIcUng5O pic.twitter.com/V7xbMOfINt
— jack (@jack) July 4, 2023
Perfect Timing
According to social media strategist Matt Navarra, Meta comes at an ideal moment when Twitter users are getting irritated with Musk's modifications and seeking an alternative.
There is an "opportunity to jump to a platform that can give them many of the things that they want Twitter to continue to be that it no longer is," he added, referring to Threads.
Navarra is a former director of social media at tech news site The Next Web and digital communications adviser for the British government.
He claimed that allowing Instagram users to link their profile to Threads might provide the new app a stronger footing with potential users by providing an existing collection of accounts for them to follow.
Twitter has recently implemented a number of contentious modifications, such as requiring verification for the web dashboard TweetDeck. Users will have to pay to have their accounts validated under Musk's new policy, according to TechTimes. He revealed this on Monday, July 3, and it will go into force in 30 days.
TweetDeck's ability to facilitate the management of several Twitter accounts has made it a favorite among businesses and media outlets.
This comes after Musk said over the weekend that Twitter would restrict the number of tweets users can read each day in an effort to prevent the illicit scraping of potentially valuable data.
Navarra acknowledged, though, that Meta's history of user data privacy might deter some customers. And even Twitter's rivals, including Mastodon, have had a hard time attracting users.
