New York, (EFE).- Threads, the social messaging network with which Meta intends to compete with Twitter, started this Wednesday with download problems after the technology company led by Mark Zuckerberg brought forward its launch, initially scheduled for tomorrow.
At 11:00 p.m. GMT this Wednesday, the countdown for the download of Threads ended, advertised on a web page along with a QR code, although it is an arrival on the market with two major exceptions: the countries of the European Union do not have access nor Android phones.
In the first few minutes of availability on the Apple App Store, many people tried to download the application without success and took to Twitter to complain about it, while others shared screenshots showing their new profiles on Threads.
Yesterday the intention of Meta -owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp- to launch this new social network that had been in development for some time and whose presentation seems to have accelerated in response to Twitter’s restrictions on reading daily messages and content on open.
The application is presented as “an Instagram app” for “conversation” and its operation is linked to the social network of photos, since the username is maintained, you can follow the same people and choose who can answer to messages.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a first message on Threads that it already has “open doors”, although he acknowledged that it will take “a while to spread”, and said he hopes it will become an “open and friendly platform”.
As indicated to The Verge, it is available in 100 countries, excluding European ones “due to the complexities with compliance with some laws that will come into effect in the next year”, presumably on the competitiveness of digital companies.
Dubbed by the American media as the “Twitter killer” (Twitter killer), Threads fires at the bird’s network from its very name, since that word in English means “threads” and is part of its own vocabulary, in addition to sounding like “threats” (threats).
Application details
Its interface is also very similar to Twitter’s, but simpler: messages are grouped into two tabs, one called “threads” (like Tweets) and another “replies”, and messages can receive hearts, comments, and reposts. (such as retweets), in addition to being shared.
In this sense, the head of Instagram said in the interview that “Twitter was a pioneer of the space” but “given everything that is happening”, the company has seen “an opportunity to build something that was open and good for the community that I was already using” the social network of photos.
It was a veiled reference to the ups and downs that Twitter has experienced since billionaire Elon Musk bought the social network last year, since he has imposed different formulas to try to make it profitable, such as charging for verified accounts, and now, limiting their daily use to combat to the bots.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Musk separately yesterday raised concerns about the privacy of Threads, which will collect all kinds of user data, including identity, health and fitness, finances, contacts, or “sensitive information.” .