Don’t have enough social media apps to kill your time? You are in luck! You can now sign up for Meta’s newly launched microblogging platform, Threads. Much like Twitter, Meta’s new app allows users to share their thoughts, ideas, and opinions with others in real-time. Here’s a quick look at its features available at launch.

What is Meta’s Threads?

The simple answer is it is similar to Twitter. Launched by Meta’s Instagram team, the app allows you to publish microblogs or short posts up to 500 characters. Threads posts can include links, photos, gifs, or short videos up to 5 minutes long. You need an Instagram account to create a profile, which essentially links the two apps. You can share Threads posts to your Instagram story and also share links to your posts on external platforms such as Twitter.

By default, you have the option to import the people you follow on Instagram into Threads, which triggers their posts and updates in your feed. It is a free app for download on the Play Store and App Store.

A word of caution: At the time of writing, you cannot delete Meta’s Threads account without deleting your Instagram account. You do have the option of temporarily deactivating your account without deleting your posts.

Why Join?

If you are a disgruntled Twitter user, the answer is obvious. Of late, Twitter hasn’t been the place it used to be. If you publish longer posts, you may like the fact that the Threads character limit for posts is set at 500 as opposed to Twitter’s free-tier limit of 280. Meta’s stated goal of future integration with open-source social media networks such as Mastodon is another good reason. Decentralized social networks such as Mastodon have the potential to expand the reach of your posts to other peer networks organized around specific topics and interests.

Threads provides users with more control over privacy. Users can limit who sees their posts and what words to hide from their feeds. This feature can be vital in today’s world, where privacy concerns are at an all-time high.

Threads Features

Threads interface is straightforward with elements such as Home, Search, New Thread, Activity, and User Profile shown on the app’s home screen. In the current iteration of the app, you will find posts from the folks you follow and posts from others the app recommends. You can manually search and follow people based on your interests. However, grouping topics under hashtags is not an available feature at this time.

New threads can include text, links, photos, GIFs, and videos. You can see the relies and other engagements your posts generate under the “Activity” tab. Under “Profile,” you can see your bio and other account-related settings that allow you to control your posts’ privacy level. You can read Meta’s news release about the app here.

Meta’s Threads is being launched into a space chockablock with social media apps. Yet, you get the sense that the app is off to a good start, with over 70 million sign-ups in the first two days. Sidelined and disillusioned Twitter users appear to be flocking to Meta’s new app with a vengeance. Elon Musk, the current majority owner of Twitter, has threatened legal action against Meta. For now, Zuckerberg and Meta appear to be winning.

Time will tell.