Instagram has announced its competitor App against Twitter, called Threads. Instagram Threads is an app made by the same team behind Instagram, but for sharing with text. The app carries a lot of the same features as Twitter. Instagram says it is working on Threads soon being compatible with the open, interoperable social networks.
What is Instagram Threads?
Instagram Threads is an app made by the Instagram team for sharing text-based content and taking part in public conversations. It works in a similar fashion to Twitter, where users can start ‘Threads’ about the topic of their choice.
Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use Instagram’s existing suite of safety and user controls.
Next, one can simply use their Instagram account to log in. “Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customise your profile specifically for Threads”, says Instagram in a blog post.
Instagram Threads: Features
As mentioned earlier, Threads carries a bunch of features that have been a part of Twitter for long but that doesn’t mean it has given up on new and unique features. Firstly, everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads.
Once you open and login the app for the first time, you can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who care about the same things you do. The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on the app.
The user’s feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators the user hasn’t discovered. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose.
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As for the privacy-related features, you can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads. Then, you can also add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads. Furthermore, any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads. The company will also enforce Instagram’s Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app.
Instagram Threads: Compatibility with other networks
Finally, Instagram says that it is planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web. This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress.
This would apparently allow “new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today”. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.
“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, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks”, says Instagram.
Instagram Threads: Availability
Threads is rolling out today in more than 100 countries, including India, for iOS and Android, and people in such countries can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Instagram further confirmed that it will soon be adding a number of new features to help you continue to discover new posts and creators you’re interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real time.