Meta’s newest social platform took off in less than a week
Threads has faced criticism from privacy advocates because users cannot delete their Threads account separately from their Instagram account, although the two can be deactivated separately. Photo by Josh Levin.
By Josh Levin
Published July 11, 2023 | Updated February 18, 2024 at 10:27 am
Instagram parent company Meta released their Twitter-like short-form text post platform, Instagram Threads, July 5.
The app, built by the Instagram team, allows users to share posts up to 500 characters in length.
According to a July 10 post by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg, Threads already has more than 100 million users. “That’s mostly organic demand and we haven’t even turned on many promotions yet,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Can’t believe it’s only been 5 days!”
Users sign in to Threads with their Instagram account. When they sign up, they are prompted to follow the accounts they already follow on Instagram.
Threads has faced criticism from privacy advocates because users cannot delete their Threads account separately from their Instagram account, although the two can be deactivated separately. Deactivating an account makes it inaccessible but does not delete the associated user data.
“Threads is powered by Instagram, so right now it’s just one account, but we’re looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately,” Instagram Head Adam Mosseri wrote in a Threads post.
The app is unavailable in European Union member states because of new EU data privacy regulations which will go into effect next year.
“We would have liked to offer Threads in the EU at the same time as other markets, and the app does meet GDPR requirements today,” Meta Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman wrote in a Threads post.
“Building this offering against the backdrop of other regulatory requirements that have not yet been clarified would potentially take a lot longer, and in the face of this uncertainty, we prioritized offering this new product to as many people as possible,” Sherman wrote.
After the launch, Twitter threatened to sue Meta for alleged intellectual property infringement because they hired former Twitter employees. Meta denies the allegations.
Meta also said they will make Threads a part of the fediverse, a set of social apps which work together using a shared communication protocol. “We are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium,” Meta stated.
“Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa,” Meta stated. They also intend to make it possible to transfer your content to a different ActivityPub-compatible platform.
Some Mastodon instance administrators said they will block Threads from federating with their communities, citing potential privacy and content moderation concerns.
Mastodon Founder and CEO Eugen Rochko said he views the move in a more positive light. “The fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub is not only validation of the movement towards decentralized social media, but a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers,” he stated in a blog post. “This is a clear victory for our cause, hopefully one of many to come.”
“Threads is Meta’s first app envisioned to be compatible with an open social networking protocol,” Meta stated. “We hope that by joining this fast-growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community, no matter what app they use.”
Josh Levin is the founder and editor in chief of The Terabyte Tribune, handling all aspects of operations and coverage. He can be reached via email at [email protected]
