Tired of Elon's crap? Instagram's Twitter rival 'Threads' is coming out this week

Threads app for Instagram
(Image credit: Instagram)

Meta, the owner of Facebook, has revealed its new app, Threads, a rival to Twitter, will go live on July 6 after weeks of back and forths between Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s owner Elon Musk.

The Threads app looks very similar to Twitter, and Meta describes the new social media platform as a “text-based conversation app”. Users will be able to follow their Instagram followers from the start, use their same username, and reply in threads similar to a Tweet. 

Apps like Mastodon and Blue Sky have tried to gain momentum in the midst of Twitter’s turmoil since the platform was purchased by Musk last year. Although, neither has managed to gain mainstream popularity. Threads, however, has Meta behind it, and while many dislike Meta’s platforms, the company knows how to succeed in social media. 

Instagram has over 1 billion users, which means if Threads is launched correctly, it could gain instant traction in a world where users are getting tired of Twitter and Reddit’s recent shenanigans.

A fight to the death?

Last month, Zuckerberg and Musk agreed to a cage fight to settle their differences following months of Twitter arguments. 

After the Threads launch announcement, Musk responded, “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run”.

The launch of Threads comes as Twitter continues to make drastic changes that impact its loyal userbase, including the restriction of the number of tweets users can see alongside paywalled benefits behind the premium, Twitter Blue.

It will be interesting to see how Threads does once it launches on July 6, as the world is clamoring for the next successful social media platform following Twitter’s continued disarray and the closure of third-party Reddit apps last month. Although, you’ll probably need to let Meta have lots of personal data to even open an account.

John-Anthony Disotto
How To Editor

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.  John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit. 

  • FFR
    Think I’m going to stick to Twitter .

    Reply
  • EdwinG
    I’m not going to use Instagram’s Thread.

    I think I will stick to Mastodon and Ivory. Meta has already enough information from me through Facebook and Instagram, and I don’t feel like I need to give them any more. 132703Now, if they want to federate with the remainder of the Fediverse, and play by the rule book, may they have fun.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Ed7789 said:
    I’m not going to use Instagram’s Thread.

    I think I will stick to Mastodon and Ivory. Meta has already enough information from me through Facebook and Instagram, and I don’t feel like I need to give them any more. 132703Now, if they want to federate with the remainder of the Fediverse, and play by the rule book, may they have fun.

    How is ivory?
    Reply
  • EdwinG
    FFR said:
    How is ivory?
    It’s great.

    It’s like Tweetbot, but with a bunch of additional features (e.g.: poll support). It makes perfect sense, because it’s made by the same people as Tweetbot.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Sounds great, big fan of tweetbot and Calcbot.


    Thanks for the recommandation

    Reply
  • Annie_M
    I’m going to check Ivory out as well!
    Reply
  • Ledsteplin
    I’ll stick to Twitter.
    Reply
  • Annie_M
    While I am interested in Ivory, I will stick with Twitter.
    Reply
  • EdwinG
    So, it seems that Meta has launched Threads tonight. Albeit, without ActivityPub (and Mastodon) interoperability for now.

    Also, there is no EU support.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Looks like zuck jumped the gun with the launch of his Twitter clone, half baked.

    Reply