The app is available for pre-order on the Apple app store, and will be closely linked to Instagram, allowing users to transfer over usernames and connections. 

Meta’s ‘text-based conversation app’ is launching at a time where Twitter is facing backlash for limiting tweet views for its users, in an attempt to stifle data scraping, claimed the platform’s owner, Elon Musk.

This will be unlocked shortly. Per my earlier post, drastic & immediate action was necessary due to EXTREME levels of data scraping.

Almost every company doing AI, from startups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data.

It is rather…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2023

“Drastic & immediate action was necessary due to extreme levels of data scraping,” Said Musk in a tweet. “Almost every company doing AI, from startups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data.”

Web scraping typically done by bots or automated tools to assist market research. However, malicious actors can also engage in scraping to conduct targeted attacks against users. 

Screen grabs from Threads show a similar dashboard to Twitter, as it looks to glean as many unhappy Twitter users as possible towards its new app. 

In the months after Musk’s £34bn ($44bn) acquisition of Twitter, other rival apps have popped up, like Mastodon, Bluesky and Truth Social. Unlike the other Twitter rivals, Threads will start with millions of users, as Instagram users will be able to easily transfer to the new app.

Now, Threads is entering the market with no restrictions on how many times you can post or scroll, and no price tag.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” reads the Threads app store description. 

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Meta has a track record of imitating competitors, such as integrating Snapchat ‘stories’ into Instagram along with ‘reels’ from TikTok.

However, Threads being a Meta product, will collect a great deal of data from its users. Financial info, location, contacts, browsing history, sensitive data and more are among the data points listed by Threads in the app store description. 

Responding to the release in a tweet, Musk said: “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run,” as a jab to Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This proverbial jab is expected to be followed up by a real one in the near future, as the tech giants plan to step into a cage fighting match against each other.