The new social media app set to be launched by Facebook’s owner Meta as the “first credible threat” to Twitter is not yet appearing in some app stores in Europe.
Threads, described as a “text-based conversation app”, will be linked to Meta-owned Instagram and go live on Thursday.
Users in the US and UK have already been offered a preorder option, but some app stores in EU countries – including Germany and Belgium – were still not listing the app.
According to Ireland’s Independent newspaper, Meta must still prepare to launch Threads in the EU. At the same time, a spokesman for the company said a complete list of countries able to download the app has yet to be released.
It comes after Meta was hit by a €1.2bn (£1bn) privacy OK by European regulators for failing to adequately protect personal information, which Meta described as “unjustified”.
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As Twitter users become more frustrated by changes introduced after Elon Musk’s takeover in October, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO may soon see people flocking to Mark Zuckerberg’s latest project.
In the latest spree of technical problems faced by the micro-blogging site, Musk announced last week that Twitter was temporarily limiting the number of tweets people could read daily.
Many users are unhappy that having a “verified” account has become so monetised, a move that initially saw a slew of impersonator accounts spreading chaos on the site.
To top that off, Twitter has crashed multiple times since Musk stepped in, with many suggesting it could be related to 80% of the site’s 8,000 global staff being fired since the takeover.
Whatever the source of users’ frustration, social media consultant and industry analyst Matt Navarra says they are “desperately looking for an exit from the platform”.
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Here, Yahoo News explains how Meta’s upcoming Threads app works and the potential threat it poses to Twitter’s supremacy.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is preparing to launch a Twitter competitor called Threads on Thursday, July 6, according to a listing on Apple Inc.’s App Store. Led by Elon Musk, Threads aims to provide users with an alternative social networking and discussion platform. The app was discovered in Europe’s Google Play store on Monday morning. It became available on the Apple App Store by Monday night, according to a report from Forbes. The decision to launch Threads comes amid various controversies surrounding Twitter, such as user limitations and issues with Bluesky, a competing platform founded by Jack Dorsey. Meta intends to position Threads as a more inclusive and well-managed alternative, addressing concerns raised by advertisers regarding Twitter’s association with far-right figures, reported News 18.
In recent developments related to Twitter, Elon Musk has made a series of changes. One change includes the appointment of Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO. Twitter, under the leadership of new CEO Linda Yaccarino, continues to grapple with declining advertising revenue. The platform has implemented restrictions on what subscribers can view, leading to dissatisfaction among users. Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, revealed in a tweet that verified accounts were initially limited to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts were restricted to 600 seats, and new accounts could only view 300. These numbers were later increased to 10,000, 1,000, and 500, respectively, reported Morningstar.
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Since Elon Musk bought Twitter Inc. last year, the microblogging site has faced technical glitches, content moderation problems and controversy over its new owner’s declared “free speech absolutism.” Enter rival billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta Platforms Inc. has seized the moment to launch a rival service, Threads, with the scale, financial firepower and pre-existing user base to threaten Twitter’s dominance potentially.
Threads is a “text-based conversation app” widely seen as an alternative to Twitter. Like Twitter, the app will allow users to write and share real-time text updates among groups of followers, allowing them to like, reply, share and send direct messages. It even borrows the name from its rival: Threads are another word for a series of connected tweets from one account.
Teaser images released on Apple Inc.’s App Store suggest Threads will be connected to Meta’s photo and video-sharing network Instagram. They will make it easy for people to find and track the duplicate accounts they follow there. The App Store page says Threads will be available on Thursday, July 6.
Meta is clear about wanting to poach Twitter’s users. Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox described Threads as “our response to Twitter” at a companywide meeting in June, reported by The Verge. “We’ve been hearing from creators and public figures interested in having a sanely run platform,” he said. That refers to how Musk has been running the company since he purchased it for $44 billion in October 2022.
