Mark Zuckerberg took the ultimate Twitter punch at Elon Musk a day ago. The new Meta Threads app was released today, with Zuckerberg announcing that the new Instagram-based app for “text updates and general chats” is available in over 100 countries for iOS and Android.
Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect through photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand it into text, creating a positive and creative space to express your thoughts,” said a Meta spokesperson.
Users can log into their Instagram accounts and details like username and verification settings will be migrated. There is also the option to customize and create a new profile. The platform won’t stop people without accounts from seeing thread posts or put limits on the number of posts users can see, like Twitter started recently.
User feeds in threads are populated by the people the users follow and “recommended content” from the Meta.
Users can post up to 500 characters of text—compared to Twitter’s 280-character limit—with links, photos, and videos up to five minutes long. Posts on topics can also be shared on Instagram stories or shared as a link.
“Our vision is that Thread will be a new app that puts a greater emphasis on text and dialogue, similar to what Instagram did for photos and video,” said a Meta spokesperson..
Almost all of the same features are also available on Instagram, such as a screen reader, AI-generated photo descriptions, public or private account settings, and security features, such as blocking, reporting, and restriction. Any blocked Instagram accounts will also be migrated.
People under the age of 16, or 18 in certain countries, will default to a private profile when they join threads.
A Meta spokesperson said via email that more features, such as improved recommendations in the feed and updates to search, will be available soon.
As promised, the app will be compatible with ActivityPub, making the themes interoperable with open source social networks like Mastodon. Public profiles in Threads can be accessed from other apps as well.
“Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on threads without them having an account on threads, and vice versa, heralding a new era of diverse and connected networking,” said a Meta spokesperson.
The spokesperson also noted that this supports developers to build new features and the ability to “easily connect with other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation.” Compliant apps will set their own community standards and content moderation policies.
“We believe this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols that govern email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms,” said a Meta spokesperson.