Meta is the company responsible for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. But now it is also making the leap to microblogging networks, something similar to what Twitter implies. The new app is called Threads, it comes with direct synchronization to Instagram and an interesting battery of options and tools.
We thoroughly explore all that is involved in threads arrival, its scope and the possibilities of success in a sector of social networks with many controversies. At a time when Twitter is going through a great loss of users due to the decisions of its new owner, Elon Musk, Meta proposes a different way of approaching microblogging. Step by step, how to enjoy the new app.
What is Threads?
La new application of the Meta family is an initiative that directly attacks the world of microblogging. It is a mainly text-based social network, although you can share photos and videos. The main axis is focused on sharing ideas and reflections with messages of up to 500 characters. In addition, messages can be quickly responded to by other users, thus generating public online conversations similar to what happens on Twitter when users reply to each other or mention their posts (the famous “retweets”).
The Similarities of Threads with Twitter They are very vast, starting from design to functionality. But the responsible developers, who also work on Instagram, wanted to give it a distinctive touch. That is why the application is much friendlier when it comes to making it easier for the content to also appear on the other Meta social networks.
In the app description, Threads puts an emphasis on generating a direct link with the community. In this way, a different type of user is targeted than in other social networks such as Facebook or Instagram. In this new tool the base will be in the strong ideas and in the written words. The launch has been very positive, with more than 10 million users in its first hours. But the potential for growth is even greater, considering that Instagram users can register almost automatically with their account and the number of users exceeds 1.300 billion.
How do you register to Threads?
The more than 10 million registered users in a few hours they are easy to understand when we learn how to register on Threads. It is that the application has a level of synchronization and articulation with Instagram that allows you to register almost automatically using your account in the social network of Reels and Stories. Step by step, you can register by following these instructions:
- Download the Threads app for your mobile phone.
- In the home menu, select Register with your Instagram account
The application will take the data and identity credentials of your Instagram account and in a few seconds you will be able to start sharing content on the microblogging network. In addition, you can invite your friends on Instagram or directly follow all those who have their Threads user activated and you already follow them on the other social network.
The only excluding condition to be able to use Threads is to have an Instagram account. We could say that, although it is an independent application, it actually works more as a social tool to continue expanding different resources and creative tools, in this case with the use of words.
The characteristics and proposals of Threads for the world of social networks
Once your Instagram account is linked, you can start using the new microblogging network. The app asks you to customize some profile configuration data, but it is an optional action, you can do it whenever you like. The visual design is quite similar to that of Twitter, its feed is text-based and allows you to share and repost or cite posts from other users. In addition, the name of the social network alludes to a function that Twitter was in charge of popularizing: that of the threads (or threads in English) of publications.
- Posts can be up to 500 characters long.
- Links, photos and videos up to 5 minutes long can be included.
- In case you have a verified Instagram account, the Threads account will also be verified.
- You can repost and quote other people's Threads in the app or share the posts on your Instagram stories.
- You can report, block or unfollow an account from the button with the three dots symbol.
- Any account you have blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads as well.
The fediverso and the promise of a decentralized social network
The new proposal of the Meta family of social networks and tools comes with the aim of being decentralized. This is a proposal similar to that offered by Mastodon and other projects, leaving aside the scheme of centralized servers. The ultimate goal is that multiple servers can coexist so that each user can open conversations and topics more easily, far from the stricter restrictions of other social networks.
Threads will be part of the fediverso, a social network with different servers managed and connected to work with each other. With this technology, Threads will be able to communicate with other networks that are not part of Meta, and share content quickly and dynamically.
According to the configurations of each user, the content can be shared with the different apps that work in the fediverso. You will be able to follow and be followed by users from other networks, even if they are not linked to Meta. The servers will be distributed and decentralized, in such a way that Meta will not be the one that commands the fediverse. Internal changes made to an application will not change how the network works.
It is a bet on the future that today appears as a tool twitter clone. Instagram's microblogging arrives to take advantage of Twitter's moments of crisis and steal users who are abandoning Elon Musk's ship after a succession of statements and movements that ended up harming the bird's social network. We'll see if Threads succeeds.
