Thursday, July 6th 2023
Meta Launches Threads to Take on Twitter
Mark Zuckerberg just announced the initial version of Threads, an app built by the Instagram team for sharing with text. Whether you're a creator or a casual poster, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations. We are working toward making Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet.
Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests - including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.
Join the Conversation from Instagram
It's easy to get started with Threads: simply use your Instagram account to log in. Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads.
Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads. You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who care about the same things you do. The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads.
Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators you haven't discovered yet. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose.
Tune Out the Noise
We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations. You can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads. Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you've blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.
As with all our products, we're taking safety seriously, and we'll enforce Instagram's Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app. Since 2016 we've invested more than $16 billion in building up the teams and technologies needed to protect our users, and we remain focused on advancing our industry-leading integrity efforts and investments to protect our community.
Compatible with Interoperable Networks
Soon, we are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web. This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress - allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.
We're committed to giving you more control over your audience on Threads - our plan is to work with ActivityPub to provide you the option to stop using Threads and transfer your content to another service. Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks. If you have a public profile on Threads, this means your posts would be accessible from other apps, allowing you to reach new people with no added effort. If you have a private profile, you'd be able to approve users on Threads who want to follow you and interact with your content, similar to your experience on Instagram.
The benefits of open social networking protocols go well beyond the ways people can follow each other. Developers can build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation. Each compatible app can set its own community standards and content moderation policies, meaning people have the freedom to choose spaces that align with their values. We believe this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms.
Threads is Meta's first app envisioned to be compatible with an open social networking protocol - we hope that by joining this fast-growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community, no matter what app they use.
What's Next
We're rolling out Threads today in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android, and people in those countries can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
In addition to working toward making Threads compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, soon we'll be adding a number of new features to help you continue to discover threads and creators you're interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real time.
We're excited to hear your feedback as we work to build new features and introduce fun new ways to connect on the app.
[Editor's note: Threads is currently not available in the EU due to Meta waiting for upcoming privacy legislation from the union.]
Source:
Threads
Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests - including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.
It's easy to get started with Threads: simply use your Instagram account to log in. Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads.
Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads. You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who care about the same things you do. The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads.
Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators you haven't discovered yet. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose.
Tune Out the Noise
We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations. You can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads. Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you've blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.
As with all our products, we're taking safety seriously, and we'll enforce Instagram's Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app. Since 2016 we've invested more than $16 billion in building up the teams and technologies needed to protect our users, and we remain focused on advancing our industry-leading integrity efforts and investments to protect our community.
Compatible with Interoperable Networks
Soon, we are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web. This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress - allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.
We're committed to giving you more control over your audience on Threads - our plan is to work with ActivityPub to provide you the option to stop using Threads and transfer your content to another service. Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks. If you have a public profile on Threads, this means your posts would be accessible from other apps, allowing you to reach new people with no added effort. If you have a private profile, you'd be able to approve users on Threads who want to follow you and interact with your content, similar to your experience on Instagram.
The benefits of open social networking protocols go well beyond the ways people can follow each other. Developers can build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation. Each compatible app can set its own community standards and content moderation policies, meaning people have the freedom to choose spaces that align with their values. We believe this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms.
Threads is Meta's first app envisioned to be compatible with an open social networking protocol - we hope that by joining this fast-growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community, no matter what app they use.
What's Next
We're rolling out Threads today in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android, and people in those countries can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
In addition to working toward making Threads compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, soon we'll be adding a number of new features to help you continue to discover threads and creators you're interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real time.
We're excited to hear your feedback as we work to build new features and introduce fun new ways to connect on the app.
[Editor's note: Threads is currently not available in the EU due to Meta waiting for upcoming privacy legislation from the union.]
75 Comments on Meta Launches Threads to Take on Twitter
Any platform on any media outlet should be held accountable for disseminating disinformation; it is critical, now more than ever.
Shave, dude, SHAVE
Looking like a bum isn't good style, but I guess this is like the owner slowly starting to look like its dog... You own the gutter, you dress to match.
Even Zucker is like..
...and now I can't sleep proper tonight. DamnQuality news papers and proper journalism still works just fine. Perhaps not over the pond, but here in the Netherlands/EU? No issues whatsoever.
This is my go to... ever since I was 10. I think this news paper has taught me more about the world than school.
www.volkskrant.nl/
I've also seen this inside world of journalism for a while, as I was very close to 1995 Srebrenica and the missing photographs of mass executions/genocide... its nothing like what we see on social media. Not even remotely.
... Elon is widely known to be on Ketamine. Kind of different, but not really. Yes, he's on psychadelics, so is almost everyone else in the Valley. Its California culture, unfortunately.
www.wsj.com/articles/silicon-valley-microdosing-ketamine-lsd-magic-mushrooms-d381e214
Ex: everyone calling the lying AI's "hallucinating AIs" instead. Either word works for me, but since all these VCs / CEOs are on LSD / psychedelics of all kinds, they see "hallucinating AIs" as a god damn feature and thinks its going to improve their creativity or something.
And honestly, folks wouldn’t have gone to social media for news if our reputable sources didn’t fail us so badly. Trust in the press is abysmal. There are sources that do a good job of not injecting their opinions and bias, but they are not common. Much of it is showmanship and “first post”ism. The more they can incite us and keep us afraid, the more lucrative it is for them. Heck, now we have “articles” that are basically just reposts of people’s social media reactions to something. What sort of lazy crap is that?
Social Media is superior for the advertising business as a means of controlling the masses and subtly getting us to believe in various marketers. They pay top-dollar to Facebook because Facebook is the best in the market for changing people's opinions and effective marketing.
Its not that people's trust in newspapers died. Its that the advertising money on Newspapers died as Newspapers have proven themselves to be less effective. No one paid for news, it was all advertising even back in the 80s or 90s that paid Newspaper's bills. Same with TV-news, it was all funded by ads, and that ad money has shifted to Social Media. Online shills work.
Facebook recognizes this reality, for better or worse. Twitter does not and has pissed off the advertisers. We all know where this will go. $100+ Billions of advertising money supports one of these new networks, while the other barely had $5 Billion/year and that was before Elon Musk pissed off the advertisers. The financial death of Twitter is basically assured by now. That being said, Twitter's ability to change people's minds is still pretty powerful, but its still a fraction of the strength compared to the true big-wigs (Facebook, Google) of the Ad-tech industry.
I may die alone and speak to no one ever again, but.
Better that then sign up for a single bit of Meta tat.
No Ty.
They don't care about the fight. They just like seeing people talk about them online and seeing how many heads they can turn.
Pretty sure you don't even care, but that does show how detatched from reality you really are if so.Do me a favor, try creating a Mastadon account, put it in your profile and see how long you last. I think you'll be shocked. Fun fact, Mastadon even has conservative bubble worlds you'd be likely to love.The thing I don't get is why Musk frickin canceled citing his MOM. That's sort of out of character even for him... lol.It's really ironic to hear you say that when most people these days consider facebook largely a conservative trollville. Let me guess (or not) how you feel about reddit.
Meanwhile those fun loving ex Twitter employees who couldn't do enough for the government are back in the news. Musk vs Zuckerberg
-----------
Speaking of Elon Musk, remember the last court case he did? Something about not thinking it was legal for him to be forced into buying Twitter? How did that work out? Elon Musk is a nightmare client with regards to court and law. I'm going to bet against Elon Musk from here on out in the courts. He's completely insane.
We all know that Facebook stole Mastodon code to make Threads. They didn't steal from Twitter, because they were too busy stealing from Mastodon. The case has no merit at all, and will likely be dropped as Twitter doesn't have enough money for lawyers right now anyway. (www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/twitter-stalling-hundreds-ex-workers-legal-cases-lawsuit-2023-07-03/)
It doesn't for anyone else...
Anyways, so what if Biden's campaign threatened twitter there would be consequences if Hunter's dick pick was released and spread throughout their system? That's the least Joe could do to protect his son's privacy. The only ethics violations are from the people who want to release that.Those fun loving ex twitter employees that Elon fired and didnt pay severence to. You believe those people shouldnt be able to get a job?
Also, I wasn't saying what if... I said SO what if, as in what did you expect Biden to do, sit idlily by while people pass pictures of his sons privates amongst themselves and to the public? He's a father trying to protect his son's privacy. If he didn't do at least that much, people would just criticize him that he didn't fight for or stand up for his kids.
A few pages on and the world is flat, led by reptiles, etc.
So its not like even Elon Musk cared so much for what that guy was talking about. Even without government intervention, he was useless to Elon Musk and has been removed from Twitter. And that's the end of the story. No one gives a shit about it anymore.
So your assumption that Twitter is a bastion of free speech is... hilariously wrong. This is again, a company that's complying with Pro-Chinese / Pro-Indian / Pro-Turkey censorship policies now. They're literally and consistently working with government officials to censor the press today, right now, in elections (Turkey's Elections), etc. etc.
By all measurements, the problem you're talking about has gotten worse under Elon Musk. I've already posted the list of Government requests of censorship / other freedom of speech issues. Now other posters included that German requests are reasonable (and I'll agree with that. I support Germany determining its own history / censoring of Nazi images within the context of German law). But I definitely draw the line at the strong-man / pro-Turkey censorship going on Twitter today.
------------
BTW: Twitch allows streamers to talk about their Youtube videos. Youtubers are allowed to talk about Twitch. Why can't you talk about Substack on Twitter? Why can't you talk about Threads on Twitter? Is that really a banworthy infraction in your opinion?
Your sense of morals and justice is twisted. You're so pro-Elon that you can't even see the inconsistencies associated with your extremely pro-Elon / pro-Twitter perspective. Which is... standard. People go all fanboy crazy on the internet about lots of things. But hopefully my words can make you aware of the insane levels of support you're giving this asshole and his webpage.
Neither Elon Musk, nor the Twitter webpage, help freedom of speech advocates at all. Find a new perspective, find a new argument. Its a hilariously bad take to be trying to be a free-speech advocate (or pretend to be one) on this issue. Twitter's censorship literally aided in Erdogan's election. Twitter is a tool for governments today to control populations, even more-so than before.