Meta, the recently launched microblogging website, has introduced its Twitter rival, Threads. Threads has garnered over 100 million sign-ups in five days. Threads has been one of the leading players since 2006. However, after Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the company has faced multiple issues, including mass layoffs, technical problems, and managing change.
Meta saw a massive opportunity, especially after Twitter started putting features and functionality behind paywalls, such as Twitter Blue, Twitter Deck, Rate-Limit, etc. Here are some reasons to reconsider using Meta Threads:
Threads is not an independent app; it is dependent on Instagram.
This app service is built on Instagram infrastructure. This makes onboarding and setting up your profile easy since you only need to do a little at once. However, note that you cannot delete threads unless you delete your Instagram account.
Thread’s primary issue
Another reason to avoid using Threads if you have privacy concerns is that Meta collects unnecessary data about your device, browser, and app. It shares it with third-party services. We have a long history of mismanaging user data.
Privacy experts express concerns about Threads’ data collection. According to their Data Safety Page, Threads may collect your browsing history, health and fitness information, financial data, device IDs, and more sensitive information such as your political or religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
Meta, the company behind Threads, has an unfavourable reputation for privacy, regularly paying massive fines for breaches. Due to its privacy policy, the app does not exist in the European Union. While the company has promised to support the ActivityHub protocol, which may allow it to be used on other third-party apps, this has drawbacks.
Now, you may wonder why Twitter should worry about Meta’s threads. If you want to switch from Twitter to another platform, you might consider microblogging sites like Mastodon, Hive, or others. However, other social media platforms have their risks and data-handling tactics. Instagram is one of the reasons Threads has gained so many sign-ups in the first place. With billions of users, Instagram promotes Threads through badges in its users’ bios.
Threads have a massive opportunity, with Twitter users constantly seeking an alternative. Since Threads has a similar user interface to Twitter, it feels more familiar to users who are used to the interface. Additionally, Meta has vast resources on how to run a social media company and can leverage its existing data to pull this off. Threads have fewer features than Twitter, but it will take a little while to catch up to its competitors. Meta copies other features and delivers them better.
