Is Meta’s new Threads more than a Twitter copycat?

Meta has officially launched Threads, its text-based rival to Twitter.

The app went live on Wednesday on Apple and Android app stores in more than 100 countries although its release in Europe has been delayed over data privacy concerns.In some ways, yes. Much like Twitter, the new app features short text posts that users can like, share and reply to although some of the wording has been changed with retweets called “reposts” and tweets called “threads”.

Posts can be up to 500 characters long, almost double that of a tweet, and can include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long, according to a Meta blog post.

The launch of Meta’s new product comes at a time when Elon Musk’s chaotic ownership of Twitter has led to questions about the future of the social media platform. Can Threads become the go-to communication channel for celebrities, companies and politicians?“It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with one billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” Zuckerberg said in a Threads post.

A spin-off from Instagram
Threads will want Twitter’s audience, and it is no startup. It is built on the back of Instagram, which is owned by Meta, and offers Threads access to a built-in audience of more than 2 billion users, sparing it the challenge of starting from scratch.

Users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, potentially making it an easy addition to existing habits for Instagram’s users.