Meta, which is owned by Facebook, is going to debut its new app to compete with Twitter on Thursday, as the company has said.
The application, which will be known as Threads and can already be pre-ordered from the Apple App Store, will be associated with Instagram.
A dashboard that appears to have some similarities to Twitter has been captured on screen. Threads is referred to as a “text-based conversation app” by Meta.
Threads: Instagram owner to launch Twitter rival on Thursday
The move is the most recent salvo in a competition between Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter.
It was decided that the two guys would engage in physical combat around a month ago, but it is unknown how serious either of them were about actually having a fight.
In what appears to be a new jab directed at Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk responded to a tweet about Threads by saying, “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run.”
In the meantime, Twitter has announced that the widely used user dashboard, TweetDeck, will require users to pay in approximately one month’s time.
This is Mr. Musk’s most recent effort in his ongoing campaign to convince users to sign up for Twitter Blue, a paid subscription service offered by Twitter.
The multi-billionaire put a limit on the number of tweets that users could view on Saturday, citing widespread “data scraping” as the reason.
It would appear from the Threads app that the service would be provided free of charge, and there will be no limits placed on the number of postings that a user is able to view.
The description of the app can be found on the App Store and states, “Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what will be trending tomorrow.”
The images exhibit screen captures from the application, which have a layout that is extremely similar to that of Twitter.
Threads will also consume data from your phone, including your location data, transactions, and browser history, among other information.
In recent years, a number of apps that are strikingly similar to Twitter have emerged, such as Donald Trump’s Truth Social and Mastodon. These apps share many similarities with Twitter.
Another comparable app called Bluesky asserted that it had experienced “record” traffic after Mr. Musk implemented his plan to limit usage over the weekend.
Nevertheless, Threads has the potential to be the most significant challenge that Twitter has encountered to this point.
Mark Zuckerberg has a history of stealing ideas from other companies and successfully implementing them at Facebook.
Many people consider Meta’s Reels to be an imitation of TikTok, while the app’s Stories feature appears to be inspired by Snapchat.
Meta possesses the resources necessary to compete on the same level as Twitter. Because Threads will be integrated into the Instagram platform, it will also be connected to the hundreds of millions of accounts that are currently available on Instagram. It is not beginning from scratch, as have been required of some of its potential competitors.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Musk has been lauded in certain circles for his dedication to the principle of free speech, he has also managed to alienate certain users.
Mr. Zuckerberg will have the expectation that he can lure a sufficient number of dissatisfied users away from Twitter in order to establish a real alternative.
