Meta's "Twitter killer" app Threads is on its way – and you can get a cheat code to download it

[Eric]

Coming this week.

Meta's "Twitter killer" app Threads is on its way – and you can get a cheat code to download it

The social media company is expected to debut the new service on Thursday, July 6. It also has a sneaky way to get a download.

www.cbsnews.com

Meta is set to release a rival to Twitter on Thursday, a social media app called Threads it describes as "Instagram's text-based conversation app."

The new service, which is available for pre-order in Apple's App Store and will be released on July 6, has a similar appearance to Twitter, with screenshots of the service showing messages with replies from other users. One screenshot of the app indicates that Instagram users will be able to immediately click to follow the same accounts on Threads, which could help users quickly build large follower bases.

Meta also introduced cheat codes on Instagram to allow people to sign up for a download ahead of time, teasing the release to its billions of users.

 

[Alli]

Probably so filled with ads from Chinese companies you won’t be able to follow anyone peacefully anyway.

And we will never federate with Meta.

 

[Edd]

I was never onboard with Facebook, but they bought Instagram after I'd used it for awhile, so I've always been conflicted. Insta, as social goes, has always been a peaceful place for me, although I don't follow enough truly good photographers. I don't post often, but when I do, I make sure it's a damn good pic I took, so it tends to be on vacations to pretty places for me. I never say anything, but shake my head at the shit pics my friends post.

Smart of them to link Threads to Instagram instead of Meta, which is more toxic. I guess I'll try it, but not thrilled about it.

 

[rdrr]

Can't wait for Instagram to become the dumpster fire that Twitter was (but that wasn't the bottom). Hopefully Elon doesn't have enough cash to buy Meta-Twitter (Twetta?).

 

[Eric]

I was never onboard with Facebook, but they bought Instagram after I'd used it for awhile, so I've always been conflicted. Insta, as social goes, has always been a peaceful place for me, although I don't follow enough truly good photographers. I don't post often, but when I do, I make sure it's a damn good pic I took, so it tends to be on vacations to pretty places for me. I never say anything, but shake my head at the shit pics my friends post.

Smart of them to link Threads to Instagram instead of Meta, which is more toxic. I guess I'll try it, but not thrilled about it.

This is pretty much how I see IG, strictly for photography and I never engage in any other sort of politics/hot button issues. It's always been a nice space for me.

 

[mollyc]

I much prefer Glass to IG but I post on IG daily. I got my secret ticket to Threads if for no other reason than to secure my user name. I was not an active Twitter user and only had an account to tweet about the occasional giveaway once in a blue moon.

 

[mollyc]

Oh, funny, I just got notification that my app is now ready!

 

[mollyc]

true to form, the app seems to be overloaded with long lags or things not loading.

 

[Eric]

true to form, the app seems to be overloaded with long lags or things not loading.

Okay, I just added it a couple of minutes ago and so far it seems to be working as it should, at least for now. It also carried over my verification status which is cool.

 

[Eric]

Saw someone complaining about censorship already which is music to my ears. I'm tired of wading through all the hatred on social media and welcome a more stable environment, I'll not be engaging in politics or any of that, keep a clean nose and there should be nothing to worry about, it's worked out well for me on IG.

 

[Cmaier]

This is fun: you can’t delete your Threads profile without also deleting your instagram account.

 

[mollyc]

for sure I'm not going to use Threads if they make me follow the entire world.

 

[Eric]

for sure I'm not going to use Threads if they make me follow the entire world.

How so? I'm only following those I choose and nobody else.

They still have a few kinks to work out but I'm loving the fact that it's a sane alternative to all the nutbags on Twitter. Of course I follow what I consider to be sane adults, it also feels like the first real challenge to Twitter that really has a shot at becoming the new standard.

 

[Eric]

This is fun: you can’t delete your Threads profile without also deleting your instagram account.

Yeah that's not good, looks like you can deactivate but seems like a bad policy IMO.

How to Delete or Deactivate Your Threads Account

Threads, Meta's alternative to Twitter, has officially launched. If you joined up to Threads amid the initial wave of excitement and have already...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Cmaier]

How so? I'm only following those I choose and nobody else.

They still have a few kinks to work out but I'm loving the fact that it's a sane alternative to all the nutbags on Twitter. Of course I follow what I consider to be sane adults, it also feels like the first real challenge to Twitter that really has a shot at becoming the new standard.

I think the issue is there isn’t a feed that only has people you follow - it’s algorithmic including people you don’t.

However, that is a temporary state of affairs - they are adding a “people you follow” feed.

 

[Eric]

I think the issue is there isn’t a feed that only has people you follow - it’s algorithmic including people you don’t.

However, that is a temporary state of affairs - they are adding a “people you follow” feed.

That and a couple of other things, first and most glaring is there seems to be no way to search content, only people. The other is there are no hashtags so you can really just browse feeds with no sense of what's going on in the world. Hoping it's only temporary as well.

 

[mollyc]

How so? I'm only following those I choose and nobody else.

They still have a few kinks to work out but I'm loving the fact that it's a sane alternative to all the nutbags on Twitter. Of course I follow what I consider to be sane adults, it also feels like the first real challenge to Twitter that really has a shot at becoming the new standard.

My feed is filled with people I don't know at all. Have never heard of. I started muting them, but there are too many to mute. I don't need to see random crap exclusively. I realize that a lot of my followers/followees might not be on threads yet, but the sheer amount of posts that I have nothing in common with is insane.

I mean, for example, clearly all my profile is based in the US. So why would I want to follow netflixuk???

 

[Eric]

My feed is filled with people I don't know at all. Have never heard of. I started muting them, but there are too many to mute. I don't need to see random crap exclusively. I realize that a lot of my followers/followees might not be on threads yet, but the sheer amount of posts that I have nothing in common with is insane.

I mean, for example, clearly all my profile is based in the US. So why would I want to follow netflixuk???

I see, I thought you meant it was literally making you follow people. Yeah, there's no rhyme or reason to their algorithm as of yet, it's a lot like Twitter in the sense that it appears to just be giving a chronological feed but most of the content I'm seeing is from those I've chosen to follow.

 

[Alli]

I’m sticking with Mastodon.

 

[Eric]

I’m sticking with Mastodon.

Yeah there's still a place for it and I hope it remains a player. The biggest advantage Threads has is user acquisition, giving their IG base of 1 billion people the ability to seamlessly join with a couple of taps.