Topline
Facebook and WhatsApp parent Meta will launch the firm’s long awaited competitor to Twitter, Instagram Threads, on Thursday, escalating the personal rivalry between feuding billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and firmly throwing down the gauntlet after another chaotic weekend had the platform’s users searching for alternatives.
Threads will launch Thursday.
The Key Facts
Meta’s app, Threads, is listed as “coming soon” on Apple’s App Store and is available for pre-order.
The listing said Threads is “expected July 6” and Meta’s countdown website for the launch indicates the app will go live at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), though it’s unclear whether Meta plans to stagger the rollout in some way.
Details on the full nature of Threads are scarce but the listing describes the platform as a “text-based conversation app” and screenshots show a dashboard that appears very similar to Twitter’s app, with the ability to like, share, post and repost content.
Threads will be directly linked to Meta’s popular photo sharing platform Instagram and screenshots suggest users can keep their usernames and easily follow the same accounts they do on Instagram on the new platform.
From the listing, Threads looks likely to be a free service in exchange for personal data, a model in line with many of Meta’s other popular apps and other free online services.
App Store listings states that Instagram Threads requires users to be over 12 years of age.
What We Don’t Know
It’s not clear when Threads will be launched on Android systems or whether the network will be accessible without the app. A similar listing of Threads reportedly appeared on the Google Play store—which serves Android devices—on Saturday showing similar features, images and descriptions. It was quickly removed. The posting, which didn’t list a date of release, appeared to be an error.
News Peg
Meta’s release of a product to rival Twitter is both timely and expected. Meta, formerly Facebook, has a well documented history of lifting features from competitors—its short-form video feature Reels draws from TikTok, community chats from Discord and disappearing video and photo feature Stories from Snapchat—to varying degrees of success. Twitter is an obvious target, with many users keen to jump ship given the parade of controversy and service issues that has followed Elon Musk’s takeover last year, including drastic revisions to longstanding verification and content moderation policies, cutting company headcount to the bone, changes to who can access platform data and numerous system outages. Most recently, Musk limited the number of posts users—even paying users—could see on Twitter and required users to have registered for accounts to view tweets. With each new development, rivals like Bluesky, Trump’s Truth Social and Mastodon have benefited handsomely, though none have yet managed to gain the kind of traction needed to fully take on an established social media giant like Twitter. With its vast resources and established social networks, Threads’ arrival could pose a serious threat to Twitter.
SME Valuation
$101.5 billion. That’s how much SMEMark Zuckerberg’s estimated worth is shown by our live tracker. Zuckerberg’s fortune is largely derived from his stake in Meta and it makes him the 10th richest person in the world. Musk’s estimated net worth is $249,4 billion. He currently occupies the number one position. SME’ list of the world’s wealthiest people. The billionaires have been fighting for several years. However, their feud just recently broke out in the open and now they are ready to do battle. It is unclear whether the agreed upon “cage match” will ever happen.
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Behind the Musk-Zuckerberg ‘Cage Match’ Is a Yearslong Billionaire Feud (WSJ)
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