Twitter will soon have a huge competitor from one of the biggest social media brands, Meta. The tech giant will launch a Twitter alternative on Thursday following some temporary policies from Elon Musk, which drove some users away from the platform.
Twitter was functioning smoothly until it abruptly stopped displaying tweets, causing significant worry about the platform's status. Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, reassured users by announcing emergency/temporary policies to address the issue. These policies will regulate the number of tweets that users can view in a day.
Following Elon Musk's explanation, many Twitter users migrated to other social media platforms like Bluesky and Truth Social. This led to a significant decrease in Twitter's user base. Meta saw this as an opportunity to launch its own Twitter alternative. On Tuesday, the Meta app was made available for download on the Apple App Store, and it is set to be officially launched on Thursday. The Meta Threads app has a similar interface to Twitter and is expected to serve the same purpose.
To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023
- Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day
- Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day
- New unverified accounts to 300/day
In the preview of the Meta new app, it says it will be a place where "communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow."
"Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world," it said.
More Details About Meta Threads App
The Meta Threads app has been in existence for quite some time, but unfortunately, it went unnoticed by the public. It was initially launched as a competitor to Snapchat, with a focus on the younger generation. However, the project did not succeed, and Meta had to shift their attention to other ventures. Recently, they have been trying to revive the app, possibly due to the negative feedback that Twitter has received.
But now seems to Meta like the perfect time to bring out this app again to the spotlight. Maybe, they might experience success with the second relaunch of the project. The app shares the same user interface as Twitter, and those seeking to use the app will have to connect their Instagram to the app. When Meta was sent a request to comment on the issue, they gave no feedback. As Meta aims for success, there's already a roadblock in front of the new Thread app.
The two tech gurus, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, are seen as staunch rivals. The duo have even agreed to a fight in a cage to settle their differences.
Users Concerned About Privacy
Based on screenshots shared by concerned users, there seems to be apprehension regarding the privacy implications of Meta's upcoming app. The app's privacy policy suggests that users will be required to provide a significant amount of personal information to access it. Additionally, the app will have access to monitor user activities both within and outside the app, which has raised further concerns.
Privacy concerns are a huge issue, as former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted a screenshot of Thread's privacy requirements with the caption, "All your Threads are belong to us." Assuming the upcoming launch of the Thread app fails, the major contributor to its failure will be privacy concerns from users.