Meta has officially unveiled its text-sharing app (Twitter competitor), Threads on Wednesday afternoon. The application, which is an Instagram team effort, allows users to post updates and join public discussions.
According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Threads is envisioned to contribute to the future of internet communications by eventually becoming compatible with open, interoperable social networks.
Threads is built to extend Instagram’s widely appreciated photo and video sharing features to the domain of text. As an expressive and constructive space for ideas, Threads offers a parallel platform to Instagram for users to connect with friends and creators. The app extends Instagram’s safety and user controls, providing a secure environment for users.
Logging into Threads is a simple process, requiring your Instagram credentials. Minors, below the ages of 16 and 18 in some regions, are automatically provided with a private profile. Threads’ accessibility features are modelled after Instagram, enabling screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions.
The application allows users to post text, links, photos, and videos (up to 5 minutes long) with a limit of 500 characters. Threads also provides the option to share these posts directly to your Instagram story or any other platform of your choosing.
In order to foster positive and productive conversations, Threads empowers users with the ability to control who can reply or mention them. To minimize negative interactions, users can set filters for specific words and block, restrict, or report any profile via the app’s three-dot menu.
When it comes to user safety, Threads follows Instagram’s Community Guidelines, backed by a $16 billion investment in user protection technologies and teams since 2016, explained Meta in a statement to iPhone in Canada.
Threads will soon to be compatible with the ActivityPub open social networking protocol, established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This interoperability will allow Threads to connect with apps that support ActivityPub, such as Mastodon and WordPress, in ways currently impossible on most social platforms. Platforms like Tumblr are also planning to support this protocol.
With the integration of ActivityPub, Threads is set to offer users the ability to migrate their content to other services. The move envisions a landscape where users of compatible apps can interact across platforms without needing multiple accounts, thus broadening the scope of social networking.
Threads represents Meta’s first venture into open social networking protocol compatibility. The benefits of this integration extend to developers, who can now design features and experiences that plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation.
The new app will be launching today in more than 100 countries on iOS and Android. Future plans include improved content recommendations, a robust search function for real-time trends, and continuous enhancements based on user feedback. Are you ready to download yet another social media app?
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