Facebook parent company Meta has revealed Threads, its upcoming Twitter competitor that is set to launch on July 6, 2023.
Threads is gearing up to take on Twitter as it is going through a tumultuous time under CEO Elon Musk, and it will arrive only a few days after the social media platform implemented temporary daily limitations and announced it would be putting TweetDeck behind a paywall in 30 days.
Threads is currently available to pre-order on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, and you can even do something kind of fun on Instagram to get ready for Thursday. All you have to do is open instagram and search for ‘Threads,’ when you do a red ticket will appear to the right of the search bar.
When you click on the ticket, you will get a virtual ticket you can share that includes the time Threads launches (July 6 at 7am PT/10am ET) and a countdown, a QR code and a link that will let you pre-order the app, and your Instagram name and photo. You can also rotate it and it has a nice shimmering effect with the Threads logo.
“Say more with Threads — Instagram’s text-based conversation app,” the official description reads. “Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
Threads also promises you’ll be able to keep your Instagram username and find your followers right away as they join the platform.
While it can be exciting to know a new social media platform is on its way, some are worried about the data Threads claims it will collect. If you look on Threads’ Apple App Store page, it confirms the following data may be collected and linked to your identity; Health and Fitness, Financial Info, Contact Info, User Contact, Browsing History, Usage Data, Diagnostics, Purchases, Location, Contacts, Search History, Identifiers, Sensitive Info, and Other Data.
It is important to note, however, that Twitter has most of these links as well, and it’s only missing Health and Fitness, Financial Info, Sensitive Info, and Other Data.
There have been many other Twitter alternatives that have tried to rival the platform, including Bluesky, Mastodon, and more, but Threads definitely has the advantage of advertising to the more than two billion monthly active Instagram users and building off the work they’ve done on the platform and Facebook.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Read More: Threads Is Meta’s Twitter Competitor and It Launches on July 6