Social networks have been evolving since the beginning of this century, when the main ones, Facebook and Twitter, became extremely popular. Then others came, and Even messaging apps have tried to become pseudo-social networks. Even Google Maps has done this successfully.
The latest to join the list of options was Threads, Meta’s commitment to competing services like X (formerly Twitter) or Mastodon. This platform was presented in 2019, but was relaunched at the beginning of summer worldwide and shortly after it was blocked in Europe and the rest of the European Union countries due to regulatory issues .
The community government did not look favorably on the very strong integration between Instagram and Threads, and until Meta fixed this problem, among others, it did not give the green light to the launch. Despite, The success of the application has been enormous, reaching 100 million users in a few days. Today, after some changes, the service returns to Europe and media like EL ESPAÑOL have already opened their official profiles there.
Although they are not two identical networks, there are similarities and differences, Threads and X are fighting for the same type of content: short texts and added multimedia content. They don’t focus on long videos, like YouTube, or short vertical videos, like Tik Tok. However, the type of profile used by one network and another is not the same.
With and without profile
One of the requirements that the European Commission imposed on Meta to launch Threads in the region is that the link with Instagram was not that aggressive. At its launch, if the account of the new social network was linked to that of Instagram, the Threads profile could not be deleted without also deleting that of Instagram.
Currently, the download can be done from the Google Play Store, although it still doesn’t appear for some people. In this case, you can choose to download it from alternative stores. In any case, once installed, gives the possibility of being used with or without profile.
If you choose to use without profile, what you will see is a randomly generated timeline in which user content highlighted by the platform itself is played, for the moment mainly in English. You also access a search engine where you can filter content, but you cannot follow anyone in this mode. You will obviously not be able to post, reply to or like posts.
To do everything it is obligatory have a profile and, at the time of its launch in Europe, it is mandatory to use one on Instagram, which can be any of those connected to the mobile application. You can also create a new one independent of Instagram, but of course you cannot use the same nickname.
Write…and edit for free
One of the most important requests that Twitter has been requested almost since its creation, it was the ability to edit messages. It was more a question of grammar than evasion of statements, but the social network, now X, only implemented it in paid profiles.
Threads allows you to publish text, photos and videos, but alsoedit these posts, as you can do in the Instagram feed. Of course, only five minutes but for free, to correct a specific error, not edit a publication weeks after its creation. Another new feature is the Inclusion of a timeline feed where you can only see the people you follow. Of course, you have to click on the house icon, in the lower left corner, to view these two columns. And do it with the latest version of the app installed, otherwise it won’t work.
Among the limitations, there is only the possibility of using a tag, which limits the reach of publications but perhaps that is its purpose. It’s easy to remember the days when there were too many hashtags on Twitter, which also happens on Instagram. Actually, in Threads tags can be entire sentencesand even contain special characters.
More Fake News
And the mistake Threads doesn’t want to make is promoting misinformation. This has been the talk of social networks in recent years, and the danger has become evident with the cases of Facebook and Cambridge Analytics. Furthermore, On Twitter, it’s easy to clearly see false content being shared ad nauseum.even in the app’s own ads.
Adam Mosseri, current head of Instagram and Threads, has already confirmed that Threads will “match fact-checking scores from Facebook or Instagram to Threads.” In addition, the manager advanced that users themselves will be able to filter the type of content that appears in their timelines, being able to the most questionable publications are not presented to you.
Less politics, more fame
Being strongly linked to Instagram, The profile of users and influential figures on Threads is different from that seen on other social networks. Actors, comedians and presenters from the United States have strongly supported this new proposal, partly tired of the toxicity of X.
However, this will change as the social network expands and begins to gain traction. Mark Zuckerberg’s intention is surely not to limit himself to being a copy of Instagram but in text, but achieve what Twitter has not achieved in terms of number of users, and also become that influence.
No advertising
One of the things that stands out most about Threads is its interface, extremely clean and with great emphasis on content. Furthermore, This platform does not yet offer paid services or advertisements. It’s possible that in the future I will have one or both, but today the experience of using Threads is very different from using X.
Elon Musk’s social media problem It’s not so much the ads. (there are also some on Instagram for example) as their quality. Many of them have community ratings because they are scam attempts, others use famous people without their consent to get clicks, etc.
Obviously, it’s assumed that at some point Meta will want to monetize Threads, but for now it’s able to pump in enough money that it doesn’t have to cloud the experience and, when the ads come, hopefully that it will be normal companies that want to appear, and not pseudo scams.
Also on the web
One of the most obvious functions of social networks is that they can be used on computers through a web version. Threads also has its own and uses an extremely clean interface. At the top is the sections bar, with the chronology in the main part, seek as the second option, then the icon for write a post then that of heart, This is where the notifications are. The last one is the profile.
On the right side is an icon with three lines of different sizes which would be the equivalent of the Settings gear. There you can switch between light and dark modes, enter settings or log out.
Future development
One of the biggest differences between Threads and X, according to Mark Zuckerberg himself, is that they were willing to open up to other platforms. With the inclusion of the ActivityPub protocol, it would be possible to follow Threads profiles on platforms like Mastodon, which would mean a before and after in the way social networks are managed and understood.
Juggernaut on Android
Free Android
At the moment it’s something in development, but nDo we know when it will be possible to follow Threads users on Mastodon or vice versa?. Despite this, Meta’s policy change in this regard could, in the long term, change the way users understand social networks.
confidentiality
Meta is not known for being the most careful company with its users’ data, but in Europe it is something important. In the application we have privacy options that allow make profile privateso that only certain people can see what is published, as well as limit the type of people who can respond to a profile.
You can also hide certain words, so as not to read about topics that are neither pleasant nor boring. Furthermore, it is possible to block whoever you wantas is done on other social networks.
Eventually, It is possible to close your Thread account temporarily or permanently. The latter will no longer involve the deletion of the Instagram accountsomething that caused a lot of controversy when the social network launched a few months ago and which was not well seen in Europe.
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