Instagram Threads are the topic of much discussion in the app market. The app attracted almost 30 million sign-ups in just 17 hours after its debut, and the numbers are still growing. The app hasn’t yet made its debut in two important markets the EU and China yet it has achieved such a great accomplishment. This accomplishment by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, appears to be a warm-up for the much expected confrontation with Elon Musk, the CEO of rival Twitter. Even if Threads and Twitter are somewhat similar, it manages to stand on its own without turning into a Frankenstein’s monster.
Threads: Instagram’s Offspring with a Twitter-Like Disguise
Threads, an app developed by the Instagram team and accessible on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores, incorporates a lot of design cues from its parent application. The UI feels like a cosy extension of the popular photo- and video-sharing app, from the gorgeous Instagram Sans typography to the search and activity buttons. Even user choices like sharing and modification of profiles are replicated. Along with allowing users to choose between a public and private profile, conceal likes, manage mentions, ban users, and mute alerts, Threads also directly integrates Instagram’s privacy features. Theoretically, Threads should complement Instagram by offering a text-based platform for real-time updates and open dialogue. However, let’s cut to the chase: Threads is Twitter in disguise.
Threads, Twitter’s doppelgänger?
Because only Instagram users can currently sign up for Threads, the exponential sign-up rate makes sense. However, this exclusivity also raises the possibility of a user cap. Which conservative estimates place at 1.6 billion. Users receive a “temporary badge” in the shape of a number after signing up. Users may proudly display on their Instagram profiles to let their followers know they have joined the Threads train. Of course, you can decide to remove it from your Instagram profile if you’d rather not appear to be a prisoner wearing a badge.
Users can browse postings from the accounts and pages they follow on Threads’ main page, which is eerily similar to Twitter. Each post provides the normal choices to like, reply, repost, and share. Users can scroll back up and down to see the most recent posts, and notifications show up to three recently active profiles and pages. From within the posts itself, users of the app can unfollow, mute, or hide the pages they are currently following. For troublesome posts, it even has a tool for anonymous reporting. Even a separate tab is available to show confirmed followers. It resembles Twitter’s doppelgänger.
- Advertisement -
Twitter’s Legal Threat
According to reports, Twitter is considering taking legal action against Meta as a result of Threads’ quick ascent as a competing app. Meta is promoting Threads, which was released to millions of users, as a “friendly” substitute. Twitter CEO Elon Musk said, “Competition is fine, but cheating is not.” The allegations stated in a legal letter that former Twitter workers helped create Threads, however, have been refuted by Meta.
According to Meta, Threads has amassed over 70 million users, a surprising amount compared to Twitter’s projected 350 million users. Even more astounding is the fact that in terms of user growth, Threads accomplished in a single day what Twitter took four years to do.
In the midst of this conflict, it’s critical to remember that US copyright law does not protect ideas, making it difficult for Twitter to demonstrate that Meta utilised its intellectual property without authorization. In reality, Meta has a patent from 2012 for the Facebook “communicating a newsfeed” technology.
Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, accused Meta of stealing intellectual property and trade secrets from Twitter, in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. According to the letter, Meta allegedly engaged former Twitter workers who had access to secret information to help with the development of Threads. The letter threatens legal action if Meta continues to use any trade secrets or private information obtained from Twitter.
In conclusion, Instagram Threads may have borrowed some inspiration from Twitter, but it manages to stand on its own as a unique and functional app.
