Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg was the first to post on Threads. He was followed by seven million over the new platform's first 10 hours. 'Zuck' is aiming for 1 billion Threads users. Photo / Getty Images
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg was the first to post on Threads. He was followed by seven million over the new platform's first 10 hours. 'Zuck' is aiming for 1 billion Threads users. Photo / Getty Images
Here’s what’s hot and not about Threads - Facebook owner Meta’s so-called “Twitter killer” which launched this week.
HOT: Easy setup
If you have an Instagram account, then getting onto Threads is easy. All it takes is a couple of clicks and Meta (which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp), willimport your Instagram profile, and set you up to follow all your Insta followers who have joined Threads to. You’re good to go in under half a minute.
The interface is simple. If you know how to use Twitter, you know how to use Threads. The two look very similar.
There is no web option. You have to download the Threads app to your phone.
Any content you’ve filtered on Instagram, or any people you’ve blocked, will also be filtered or blocked on Threads.
NOT: Longer posts
Users can post up to 500 characters (Twitter displays 280) or share videos up to five minutes long. For Twitter, the video limit is two minutes, or a mind-numbing two hours if you pay for a Twitter Blue sub. Pre-Elon Musk, one of Twitter’s key benefits was it forced people to get to the point.
NOT: Held hostage
In terms of usability, Threads looks promising. Which is just as well, since it seems I’m there for life.
I did not read the terms and conditions before I rushed to join the hype, and set up a Threads account (in my defence, most tech firms post privacy policies that run to thousands or even tens of thousands of words, which few have the time or legal expertise to decipher, and are constantly changed. So we’re acclimatised to click-to-consent culture).
The flipside of that easy setup is Threads is inextricably intertwined with your Insta account.
My heart sank when I read the New York Times DealBook newsletter this morning, pointing out Meta’s new “Supplemental privacy policy”, which reads:
“You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account.”
Threads has a very similar look and feel to Twitter. Photo / NZME
And you can’t join Threads without having an Instagram account.
Meta knows full well there’s little chance I’ll delete my Insta account, so it’s got a lot of latitude to take liberties with my Threads account. Which brings us to:
NOT: Snoopy tracking
Threads has been launched in 100 countries (including NZ) but, conspicuously, it’s not available in any EU states, which are subject to tougher privacy and data sharing laws than most territories.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey gleefully tweeted a screen grab of all your activities that Threads tracks, from your browser history to your purchases to your location.
Threads has no privacy and data settings of its own, but you can opt-out of tracking and tweak your preferences through Instagram (click on your profile pic, then Settings and privacy).
HOT: The ‘fediverse’
Meta says Threads will be compatible with ActivityPub, a decentralised social-networking protocol, which founder Mark Zuckerberg calls “the fediverse”.
That means, in theory, you could take your Threads profile, including all your followers, to another social media platform that also uses ActivityPub, like Mastodon.
This seems promising, yet almost unbelievably generous given Meta’s other strategies, which hold you tight.
When will ActivityPub compatibility be enabled? Meta says “soon”.
NOT: Starved of feeds
Right now, Threads gives you a single feed, which includes posts from people you follow, plus selected posts chosen by Meta’s algorithm. Unlike Twitter, there’s no option to see posts from only people you follow. Neither is there an option for a purely chronological feed.
NOT: No DMs
Unlike Twitter and, well, every other social platform out there, Threads doesn’t let you direct message other users.
At this point, it’s not clear if Meta is being cautious about stability, and will gradually add more features over time, or if it doesn’t want to cannabilise the DM tools on its other apps.
I’m not that fussed about this feature being DM’d. Despite being a paying Twitter Blue customer on Musk’s platform, I get constant DM spam (there’s been a huge rise recently in the cutbacks). So I’m quite enjoying the lack of special messages about crypto opportunities.
HOT: No ads
This is a temporary measure, as Meta initially concentrates on building Threads’ audience.
My Twitter Blue sub promised “half the ads” but lately my feed has been filled with more and more ads for crappy T-shirts and other low-rent offerings, so I’m enjoying Threads’ temporary reprieve.
NOT: Limited search
You can search for other accounts, but not search by keyword or hashtag.
HOT: No rate limits
Musk recently introduced what he called “rate limits” or a restriction on how many tweets people could see a day (like all Twitter features these days, it’s constantly tweaked on the hoof, but it started with a 600 tweet limit).
He blamed data scraping by third-parties developing AIs. Cynics saw yet another jape to push people toward buying a Twitter Blue account. Threads, like every other social media platform on the planet, has no limit on the number of posts you can view.
NOT: No editing
Unlike Facebook, or Twitter Blue, there’s no option to edit Threads posts after posting.
Individually, the lack of various features is annoying. But, collectively, the effect is a pleasingly simple platform, at least for now, which is a nice contrast to the chaotic riot Twitter has become under Musk.
And if you want to follow me on Threads, I’m here.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
