Threads, Meta's answer to Twitter, is out

It was already well documented that Meta was working on a Twitter competitor. First known as Barcelona, the app is called Project 92 (or Project 92) internally. Earlier in June, leaked documents showed that the app will be called Threads. threads.net was redirecting to threads.instagram.com, which made the name Threads even more likely.

Now, Threads is officially available, at least in several countries. Which ones? It's unclear. I'm currently in France, and this is the message I get when I visit threads.net:

Threads is available at least in the Play Store.

Threads, an Instagram app - Apps on Google Play

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Here are some screenshots of what the app looks like.

It's no surprise that the UI is very close to Twitter's UI. I find it funny that in the screenshots, Meta has chosen to put a blue checkmark next to the account's handle. I interpret this as another jab at Twitter, in the same vein of the "sanely run" Meta used internally to sell Threads.

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The Verge

I couldn't find Threads in the App Store, at least in France. Either Threads hasn't launched in France (yet), or the app is propagating and I searched too early.

For content creators, the arrival of Threads is a blessing. Twitter is worsening by the day in almost every dimension. The fact that Threads will be compatible with ActivityPub is also a good thing. I literally have zero trust in Meta. But such a big social media company embracing an open standard, and effectively making Threads compatible with Mastodon and other parts of the Fediverse, is objectively a tectonic shift in favor of a more open web. At least on paper.

I also hope that Threads will make Mastodon more welcoming toward content creators and Black people.

For Twitter and its incompetent new owner, Threads is close to an industrial disaster. Before Musk bought Twitter, it was inconceivable that Meta would launch such a competitor. But less than a year after the deal to buy Twitter closed, here we are.

We'll see if Threads is a success or not. But Meta definitely has its chance.