Today saw the launch of the new social media platform Threads, which is perceived as a direct attack on Twitter. Major publishers, including Sony, Square Enix, and others, have immediately established a presence there.
Threads belongs to the Meta group and, according to them, is intended to be a friendly place for conversations, as the name itself suggests. Currently, however, Threads' features are still quite limited, and the service isn't officially available in Germany yet. Nevertheless, the app can be installed indirectly, for example on Android via... APK Mirror.
With your Instagram account, you can immediately start threads that are linked together.
What is Threads?
Within the first few hours, Threads attracted over 10 million users, while Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is aiming for 1 billion. Although there are already Twitter alternatives like Mastodon, none have truly taken off. Meta offers the greatest potential due to its direct connection to Instagram and its existing user base.
While Instagram is designed for sharing images, Threads is intended to be its text-based version, offering real-time updates. Plans are also in place to eventually integrate with various social networks to enable widespread content sharing and thus reshape the internet.
"Whether you're a YouTuber or a casual poster, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations. We're working to make Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet."
Meta
Anyone looking for specific brands, publishers, or developers simply needs to visit the official Threads URL https://www.threads.net/ and add @NAME after the slash. This way, you can find, for example... PlayStation, Ubisoft, Capcom, SEGA and Square Enix there. Even though the service hasn't officially launched in Germany yet, we're already seeing it on Threads. with this link.
Threads' prospects are already very good, especially given Twitter's current user exodus. Since Elon Musk acquired the social network, several questionable decisions have been made, including the introduction of a paywall, reading restrictions, and more. Furthermore, the network is grappling with accusations of being a toxic environment. For Musk, the purchase is currently turning into a bottomless pit of money, and it remains to be seen how long Twitter will continue to exist in its current form.
Rate limiting has made Twitter practically unusable so far. I'm not switching to Threads yet because of Meta's censorship policies. I'm hopeful that Twitter will recover.
If they censor in the same way as Twitter once did, with the explicit orders of governments of course (Twitter Files), then it will probably only become a platform where left-wing green rhetoric can praise each other.
But it doesn't really matter to me since I don't use any of the "modern" social media portals.