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Surprises "Meta" / To launch the application that rivals "Twitter".

2023-07-04 22:31:27, Tech CNA

Surprises "Meta" / To launch the application that rivals

The company Meta will launch a new app called Threads, which will rival the Twitter app. This development comes just days after Twitter owner Elon Musk's announcement that he would place a temporary cap on the number of messages users can read on the network was met with criticism.

The Threads app is expected to become available to the public on Thursday and will allow users to transfer their followers from the other Instagram network, while keeping their current username.

The new app represents a direct challenge to Twitter, which has faced numerous controversies since Mr. Musk bought the company for $44 billion in 2022.

Last week, the billionaire who also owns Tesla announced a series of new restrictions on the app, putting a cap on the number of messages users can view in a day, sparking backlash from platform users.

Although other short messaging services, such as Mastodon and Blue Sky, have experienced an increase in user numbers since Mr. Musk bought the Twitter network, none of them have posed a challenge to Twitter.

However, the Instagram network already has hundreds of millions of registered users and has a track record of introducing new options that have been successful for other social media firms.

In 2016, Instagram added the option called "stories", with posts that disappear automatically after a certain period, thus reacting to the increased popularity of the Snapchat network.

More recently, the option of short videos "reels" has tried to rival the growth of the TikTok network.

The new Threads app is expected to really rival the Twitter network, run by Mr. Musk.

"Threads will be a very big threat to Twitter, as it comes from the Meta and Instagram family of apps," said Drew Benvie, director of social media consulting firm Battenhall.

“Instagram has 2 billion users, compared to Twitter's 250 million users; so it is now about ten times bigger. If just one in ten Instagram users start trying Threads, they'll overtake Twitter in the blink of an eye."

After buying the company last year, Mr. Musk fired about 80% of staff and reinstated a number of blocked accounts, such as those of former President Donald Trump and the conservative satirical news site Babylon Bee.

Hundreds of advertisers, concerned by a perceived increase in harmful content on the platform, suspended payments to Twitter, and internal documents seen by the Reuters news agency showed that the platform's most active users have been distanced.

The Meta company did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the Twitter company was also asked to comment./ VOA