About

Threads is a micro-blogging service developed by Meta that launched in early July 2023, commonly referred to by many as a potential "Twitter Killer." It was initially conceived as a camera-based messaging app for Instagram, intended to connect people with their close friends and allow them to send private messages to each other using both camera and text functions, before being reimagined in the wake of Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter in late 2022.

History

On August 26th, 2019, the Verge^[1] reported that Facebook and Instagram were prepping the launch of Threads, a messaging application. The media company described the application as an "assault on Snapchat."

A little over one month later, on October 3rd, Facebook formally announced the application on the Instagram press blog,^[2] writing:

Over the last few years, we’ve introduced several new ways to share visually on Instagram and connect with people you care about – from sharing everyday moments on Stories to visual messages on Direct. But for your smaller circle of friends, we saw the need to stay more connected throughout the day, so you can communicate what you’re doing and how you’re feeling through photos and videos. That’s why we built Threads, a new way to message with close friends in a dedicated, private space.

Threads never took off as a potential Snapchat competitor, but the buzz around the service resumed following Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter in late 2022.^[6] A New York Times piece posted in December 2022 highlighted how the chaos at Twitter caused Meta to brainstorm a service that could potentially overtake Twitter. This led to the reimagining of Threads as a direct Twitter competitor.

Threads Launch July 2023

Meta announced on July 3rd, 2023, that the application would be available on July 6th to Android and iOS users. The news inspired a series of memes rivaling Meta's boss Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk. For instance, on July 4th, Twitter^[4] user @XAI_ERC20 posted a The Slap meme to represent Elon Musk's reaction to the rival app's launch (shown below).

This is how @elonmusk deals with Threads, Meta and Mainstream Media

He could go easy on our Lil X meme at the end 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Eiue13xeTU

— X.AI (@XAI_ERC20) July 4, 2023

On July 1st, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @MELNlKA posted a GIF as a reaction meme about the app's first look. The post (shown below) garnered over 55,000 views and 1,300 likes in three days.

Oh elon you’re over😭 pic.twitter.com/JoFqHFdGyK

— 𝙍- (@MELNlKA) July 1, 2023

Within less than 24 hours after launching, the app saw 23 million sign-ups from users.^[10]

Mark Zuckerberg Tweet

On July 5th, 2023, Mark Zuckerberg^[8] posted his first tweet in over a decade, showing only the template for the Spider-Man Pointing at Spider-Man meme. This was widely understood as a reference to Twitter, with Zuckerberg joking that he had essentially launched a very similar service.^[9]

Zuckerberg's tweet accumulated over 213,000 likes and 28,000 retweets in roughly 19 hours, as well as receiving significant coverage in the media shortly after.^[11]

Twitter Threatens Lawsuit

On July 6th, 2023, Semafor^[12] reported that Twitter was threatening to sue Meta for hiring former Twitter employees and having them violate the terms of their Twitter contracts by helping them build Threads. Meta denied the accusations.

Features

Upon Threads' reimagining as a Twitter competitor, Threads ultimately functioned very similarly to its rival at launch in early July 2023. Upon signing up for Threads, users could opt to automatically follow everyone they already follow on Instagram, as well as transferring over their profile.

Shortly after its initial launch on July 5th, 2023, there was no option to only view Threads from people you follow and its timeline was algorithmically generated. However, on the afternoon of July 6th, this feature was then purportedly changed to allow users to only see posts from those they follow.

The site also does not allow NSFW content, in line with Meta's general policy regarding NSFW content across all of its platforms, such as Facebook. This led to some negative impressions of Threads upon its launch (example by @bestgirlyazy^[7] shown below).

Search Interest

External References