Meta, the owner of Facebook, is releasing a new app on Thursday that will compete with Twitter. The app, called Threads, will be connected to Instagram and is currently available for pre-order on the Apple App Store.
Screenshots depict a dashboard that resembles Twitter. Meta refers to Threads as a “text-based conversation app,” and there has been ongoing conflict between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk.
The two men agreed to a physical altercation last month, but it’s not clear how serious they were about actually holding one.
In an apparent fresh swipe at Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Musk responded to a tweet about Threads, expressing gratitude for their sane management. Meanwhile, Twitter has said that the popular user dashboard, TweetDeck will go behind a paywall in 30 days time.
The move is the latest push by Mr Musk as he tries to get users to sign up to Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue. On Saturday, the multi-billionaire restricted the number of tweets users could see, citing extreme “data scraping”.
Free Service
It appears from Meta’s Threads app that it will be a free service – also there will be no restrictions on how many posts a user can see.
“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow” the description on the App Store says.
Pictures show screengrabs from the app, that look almost identical to Twitter. It being a Meta app, Threads will also hoover up data on your phone, including location data, purchases and browsing history.
Several apps that bear a striking resemblance to Twitter have sprung up in recent years – such as Donald Trump‘s Truth Social and Mastodon. In addition , Bluesky claimed to have seen “record” traffic after Mr Musk’s move to restrict usage at the weekend.
Mark Zuckerberg has a history of borrowing other company’s ideas – and making them work.
Many people view Meta’s Reels as a TikTok copy, and its Stories feature bears a resemblance to Snapchat.
