By Adam 
Top Line
Meta’s Threads app, which shares a similar format with Twitter and is widely seen as Elon Musk’s most significant competition since the billionaire took over the social media platform, was launched Wednesday evening in a surprise announcement.
This photo shows the Threads Logo on a Cell Phone on 5th July 2023, in San … [+]
The Key Facts
Threads, which is now live on Apple’s App Store, will be linked to users’ Instagram accounts and offer a real-time platform, like Twitter’s, that allows text posts of up to 500 characters.
Instagram says that the app can also accommodate photos and videos up to five-minutes long.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in an interview with The Verge that Twitter’s “volatility” and “unpredictability” under Musk is what gave Meta the opportunity to compete with Twitter, which has been plagued by outages and unpopular limits to the number of tweets users can view in a single day.
Threads can be downloaded on iOS or Android in over 100 countries. However, the European Union has some concerns regarding the app.
Users will have Threads profiles that can be customized independently from that of their Instagram accounts—they will also be able to auto-follow the same users they follow on Instagram.
Key Background
Meta’s move to create a more direct competitor to Twitter comes amid rocky times for Musk-led Twitter. Recently, the platform implemented a “temporary” limit to the number of posts Twitter users can see on a daily basis, prompting backlash from users. The initial restriction on viewing was 300 posts a day for new, unverified users. For older unverified users the limit was 600. Verified accounts that cost $8 per month are limited to viewing 6,000 articles a day. Since Musk’s takeover in October, Twitter has experienced major outages and hundreds of layoffs. Its valuation also decreased. Mastodon, and most recently Bluesky Social attracted significant attention when Twitter’s complaints increased. But Threads—integrated with Instagram and backed by a company with a $756 billion market cap—is expected to be a far more significant threat to Twitter than similar text-focused social media platforms. Speculation around Meta’s new platform had floated around for months. In March, a report from MoneyControl said a Twitter competitor codenamed “P92” was being developed by Meta.
SME’ Valuation
We estimate Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to be worth $104.4 billion, making him the seventh richest person in the world behind Musk’s No. 1 ranking—a spot secured by his estimated $251.1 billion net worth.
Read More
Welcome To ‘Threads,’ Facebook’s Twitter Killer (SME)
Threads, Meta’s Twitter competitor, is now live (TechCrunch)
SME Paid Under
Digital Editor