Meta launches “Threads” Twitter killer app: Meta, the company of Instagram, has launched Threads, a new social networking site. With Twitter feeling insecurity under billionaire owner Elon Musk, Meta intends to take advantage of the situation. Threads is now available in over 100 countries via the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Like Twitter, users can share brief text messages that can be liked, reposted, and responded to. However, Threads does not include direct messaging features. Users can create posts on Threads with up to 500 characters, as well as share links, photos, and videos up to five minutes in length.
Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 2023
About the Threads:
- Threads and Instagram have been combined, with a heavy emphasis on privacy features. Users can choose whether to display or hide a badge on their Instagram profile, and they can customise privacy settings for each app separately. Several popular brands such as Billboard, HBO, NPR, and Netflix, as well as notable celebrities like Shakira and former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, quickly created accounts on Threads. Interestingly, no advertisements were observed during a Reuters review of the app.
- Meta actively sought the participation of social media influencers to promote Threads and encouraged them to post at least twice each day. Despite their efforts to recruit Twitter users, platforms such as Mastodon, Post, Truth Social, and T2 have struggled to acquire substantial traction. Bluesky, a new service backed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, launched its invite-only beta version in February and reported 50,000 users by April.
- However, Meta has faced difficulties with previous endeavors to introduce standalone apps resembling competitors, as seen with the unsuccessful launch of Lasso, which aimed to rival TikTok. As a cost-cutting strategy, Meta has integrated short video features directly into Instagram via Reels and trimmed down its experimental app design team.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Meta Founders: Mark Zuckerberg;
- Meta Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States;
- Meta Founded: February 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
