What is Instagram’s new Threads app and how is it taking on Twitter?

What is Instagram Threads?

Threads is a spin-off app from Instagram that focuses on conversations rather than visual content. You can log in with your Instagram account and share text updates and join public discussions. The app resembles the Instagram comment section in its design, but offers the features of Twitter, such as replying and re-sharing posts. You can create posts with up to 500 characters (more than Twitter’s 280), links, up to 10 photos, and videos up to 5 minutes long.

You can’t edit threads. Unlike Twitter, Threads does not seem to use hashtags and does not have a trending section.

How do I sign up for Instagram Threads?

The sign-up process is the biggest reason for Instagram Threads’ initial success. Threads taps into Instagram’s existing 2.35 billion-strong userbase instead of building from the ground up like other Twitter competitors. You can easily sign up with the Instagram account and skip the hassle of filling out personal details. Even the bio can be automatically transferred.

The registration process is easy. Since Threads is now widely available on both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in India, all you got to do is download it, launch it, tap on ‘Log in with Instagram’, and hit on the ‘Import from Instagram’ button to get started.

When you join Threads, you get an ID based on your rank, which depends on when you join the app.  This ID appears as a badge under your name or username on your Instagram profile. It tells your followers that you use Threads.

Users who are younger than 18 will receive a default private profile.

How to use Instagram Threads?

If you’ve used Twitter before, you’ll feel right at home with Threads. If you imported your followers from Instagram, you’ll already recognise some of them on your feed. You can interact with those posts or create your own by tapping on the pencil icon on the bottom navigation bar. Many of your favourite Instagram accounts are already on the platform, including The Indian Express, so just look them up and follow them if you haven’t already.

How does Instagram Threads stack up against Twitter?

Instagram Threads is still a minimalist app with few features. For instance, unlike Twitter, which has a sophisticated search function that allows you to explore tweets and trending topics, Threads only lets you search for people to follow. You also can’t send posts directly to other users through Threads like you can on Instagram. However, this is just the beginning of the app’s journey and it will likely evolve with time.

But Instagram Threads’ greatest advantage over Twitter is that it’s backed by Instagram’s massive userbase. Add to that the ever-growing dissatisfaction surrounding Elon Musk’s Twitter leadership and you have a winning formula.

Threads isn’t the first Twitter alternative to come to the fore following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, though. There’s Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter clone; Mastodon, the ‘anti-Twitter’; Substack Notes, and many more. However, since they had to build their audiences from scratch, they can feel rather empty and therefore unappealing for users accustomed to the more lively Twitter. Ease of use is also an important factor when it comes to new social media platforms, and Mastodon is often seen as too technical for the average user.

How private is Instagram Threads?

Instagram’s Threads app raises some privacy concerns, though. The app’s App Store listing reveals a long list of permissions that users have to grant, which include access to their “Financial Info” and “Sensitive Info.”

That’s a hefty amount of trust to place in an app from Meta, the former Facebook, which has been plagued by scandals and controversies.

What is Threads’ history?

Meta’s new app Threads may sound familiar to some Instagram fans. That’s because Threads was the name of a previous app by the same company, launched in 2019 as a companion to Instagram. It was a “camera-first” messaging app that let users share status updates and chat with their “Close friends”. However, it was discontinued in December 2021. Now, Threads has returned as a new app that aims to rival Twitter.

What is the road ahead for the platform?

During a company-wide meeting in June, Meta’s product chief Chris Cox expressed his vision for Threads: a secure, user-friendly, and dependable platform where creators can find a “stable home to build and grow their audiences.”

Meta intends to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the universal protocol for social networking that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) – the guardian of the web’s open standards – has created. “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,” states Meta.