 "threads, instagram threads")
Interest among users, including celebrities such as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, was evident from the sign-ups that Threads, a Twitter rival launched by Meta, has received.
Threads is an extension of its (Meta’s) Instagram service.
According to Chief Executive Officer and founder Mark Zuckerberg’s post, the platform had 30 million sign-ups globally.
Time will tell how Threads stacks up against Twitter, but the platform has created the buzz. The company confirmed Shakira, Gordon Ramsay, and Richard Branson had signed up for Threads.
Brands such as Netflix India, Amazon India, and Swiggy have done so as the platform went live along with celebrities like Parineeti Chopra, Diljit Dosanjh, and cricketer Rishab Pant, who have already posted some stuff.
Zuckerberg said: “The team did a great job with Thread V1. A long journey ahead but a really talented group built a strong foundation.”
More From This Section
However, Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, did not go beyond a laughing emoji on the launch of Threads. To a tweet that said Thread is a “copy paste” work, he did so.
In India the launch could well mean trouble for home-grown Twitter replica Koo.
Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder Koo, in a tweet said Threads was more of a competition to Twitter than to Koo.
“Threads is a potential threat to Twitter as it looks to acquire the same English user Twitter has. Koo has more than 80 per cent of its platform using local languages and neither Threads nor Twitter will have more than a small percentage of native language users in the near future,” he said.
Almost 80 per cent of the people of the world speak a non-English language and they’ve not been given inclusive experiences on social media, he added.
Radhakrishna may have a point, but what works for Threads is the fact that it’s an extension of Instagram. Users can create a Thread account by using the same Instagram account.
According to recent Bloomberg story, Instagram’s India user base is 400 million, which means these users can instantly sign up for Threads.
Twitter has around 24 million users in India and Koo 6-7 million active monthly users and a total download of 60 million, which it aims to take up to 100 million by next year.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, in one of the responses on Threads, said language support was on the list of things being worked on.
Users can employ their Instagram account details for Threads. A user’s Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customise their profile, specifically for Threads. They can continue to follow the same people on Instagram or find new people to connect with.
Threads is present in 100 countries and on the Android and Apple platforms. Posts can be up to 500 characters and include links, photos, and videos of 5 minutes.
Users can share a Threads post to their Instagram story, or share posts as a link on any other platform they choose.
They can use their existing suite of safety and user controls. Anyone below 16 (or below 18 in certain countries) will by default put into a private profile when the person joins Threads.
Mosseri, in an interview to The Verge, said: “Twitter pioneered the space. And there are a lot of good offerings out there for public conversations. But just given everything that was going on, we thought there was an opportunity to build something that was open and something that was good for the community that was already using Instagram.”
For many advertisers Threads will be another platform. However many are in wait-and-watch mode.
Rajni Daswani, director (digital marketing), Socheers, said: “With day one being a huge noise, it is a wait-and-watch game to see how the platform adapts and caters to the specific needs and preferences of the users. From an advertising perspective, Threads offers a fresh and captivating avenue for online conversations and connectivity.”
Vivek Das, chief executive officer of FoxyMoron, Zoo Media, said: “Advertisers will have to consider the fundamental differences between the ‘Insta mindset’ and the ‘Twitter mindset’ when crafting their marketing strategies. They will need to adapt their content to suit the visual-centric nature of Instagram and the more conversational and news-driven environment of Twitter.”
