Instagram to launch Threads, in attack against social media rival, Twitter
The new product from Instagram is set to rival competitor Twitter, with Australian users able to download the app ahead of its expected launch on Thursday.
Instagram is set to launch Meta’s version of Twitter, capitalising on falling user rates and backlash after billionaire Elon Musk took control of the social media platform.
Meta’s iteration of the commentary platform, dubbed ‘Threads, an Instagram app’ is currently available to pre-download on the App store, with its official launch expected on Thursday.
Meta describes the platform as a place where “communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today, to what’ll be trending tomorrow”.
“Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
Australian users can pre-download the app on Apple’s AppStore.
Android users able to search, but not install, the app on Google Play store.
The screenshots shared of the app’s interface looked remarkably similar to the Twitter layout, including options to reply and repost certain threads.
Instagram previously attempted to launch Threads in 2019 as a companion messaging service, however it was shut down in December 2021.
In an uncharacteristic move, Musk, who bought the social media giant in October 2022 for about $68 billion has yet to tweet about Meta’s product launch.
On the weekend, Musk angered Twitter users by enacting a view limit for tweets, revising the figures three times in successive tweets.
As it stands they stand at a daily limit of 10,000 for verified, 1000 for unverified and 500 for new unverified users.
Once users hit the cap, they will receive a “rate limit exceeded” notification which will prevent them from accessing new tweets.
The Twitter boss said it was a “temporary emergency measure” to curb “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation”. However he did not say how long the controls would be in place for.
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