Threads - Just…bleh or the new Twitter?
By Rebecca Noronha
After more than 30 million users downloaded the app within about 18 hours, Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter competitor was met with mixed reviews. Memes are emerging on social media, reacting to Mark Zuckerberg's new app Threads, which lets users publish up to 500 characters of text, five minutes of video, and images. Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter in October, had this to say:
Nobody is exactly sure how to feel about the social media app war between text-focused platforms.
Some Twitter users have expressed dissatisfaction with the new site thus far and appear to be sticking with Twitter as they continue to post memes depicting individuals leaving Threads and returning to Twitter. In response to the app's release, people on Twitter started a meme frenzy.
Bluesky users are also letting their opinions be known :
Twitter is contemplating taking legal action against Instagram's parent company, Meta. According to the letter from Elon Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, Meta employed former Twitter workers who had access to sensitive information, raising the possibility that they exploited that information to create Threads. Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta, refuted the claims that any former Twitter workers were a part of the Threads team by saying, "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee, that's just not a thing."
Due to regulatory uncertainties around the app's usage of personal data, Threads' release in the European Union was delayed. This is due to rules in the Digital Markets Act of the European Union that allow for the sharing of user data across various platforms. Before Meta can introduce Threads in E.U. nations, it must first receive clearance from the European Commission, the E.U.'s executive body.
It's interesting to note that Mark Zuckerberg, who had been away from Twitter for more than 11 years, made a startling return. To break the stillness, he shared a meme showing two people wearing Spiderman costumes, pointing at the other with no explanation or background information. The image was uploaded with 0 context, but the context was pretty much obvious to users.
People are truly getting on the Zuck vs Musk bandwagon with the memes :
Though it's difficult to predict if Threads will truly replace Twitter, there's no denying that the internet is already having fun. The atmosphere on Threads in its first 12 hours was a mix of the ludicrous, the amusing, and a touch cringeworthy, popularity aside. Many people exploited the app's newness as an excuse to post impulsively in ways they may have avoided on apps with a longer track record.
Some users are already considering how they would look back on their early posts and doubt everything, as they become used to the pace of Threads.
