Business(7/19-22) – Threads gains 30 million users in its first day, Mark Zuckerberg says

  • 投稿カテゴリー:Business

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1. More than 30 million users have signed up to Meta’s Twitter rival in 18 hours, The new text-based application, Threads, was launched several hours ahead of schedule, with Meta’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg, welcoming users in his first post on Thursday morning. Mr Zuckerberg also took to Twitter for the first time in 11 years, posting a well-known meme of Spiderman facing off against Spiderman in a playful jab at his rivalry with Twitter’s owner Elon Musk.Threads’ arrival comes after the two billionaires traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a mixed martial arts “cage match” in Las Vegas.

2. On Thursday, Mr Zuckerberg said Threads had garnered more than 2 million users in its first 2 hours after launching on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store. Five hours later, that figure grew to 10 million users, with many racing to be among the platform’s early pioneers, including Australian politicians and celebrities.  On Friday morning Australian time, as the platform neared its first day online, Mr Zuckerberg announced the number had passed 30 million. Users log in using their Instagram account and can write posts of up to 500 characters, as well as include links, photos, and up to five-minute videos

3. Twitter on the back foot – Much like Twitter, a user’s feed on Threads includes posts by people they follow and recommended content from new creators they have not discovered yet. Meta’s new app allows users to import their Instagram usernames and profiles — including their verification status — directly into Threads. It also allows them to import their privacy settings, restricting and blocking other users, as well as filter out replies and hidden words.

Do you, or anyone you know have a threads account? How would you describe the reaction (both in the media and amongst people you know) to this new social media? Is it attractive to you? Why/Why not?

4. “Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas,” the Meta company said in a statement. “As with all our products, we’re taking safety seriously, and we’ll enforce Instagram’s Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app.”

5. While Twitter has faced other competitors like Mastodon and Bluesky before, they did not have the money or infrastructure that Instagram and Facebook’s parent company Meta does.  A senior media lecturer at Swinburne University, Dr Belinda Barnet, said Threads would be making Twitter nervous because it is the strongest competitor in terms of market dominance but it won’t be what brings it down. “I’m not optimistic it’s going to topple Twitter; Twitter’s doing a very good job of toppling itself,” she said. She said Twitter was “haemorrhaging users largely because of the decisions Musk is making”.

6. The Tesla founder bought Twitter for US$44 billion ($65.8 billion) last October, but its value has since plummeted amid mass staff cuts and content moderation controversies that have alienated both users and advertisers. Days after Mr Musk limited the number of tweets various accounts could read per day, he responded to Thursday’s Threads launch with a tweet of his own. “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” he said. 

Many people in the media have said that this will be a rival to Twitter, Do you think that will be the case? Do you think twitter would be more popular/better if you could potentially see peoples personal photos as you can on Instagram? Why/ Why not?

7. Meta said in a statement that it envisions for Threads to be compatible with an open social networking protocol called ActivityPub. This protocol, which Meta describes as “decentralised”, would allow the content of different applications to appear on other app feeds.  “Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks,” the statement said.

8. “The benefits of open social networking protocols go well beyond the way people can follow each other. Developers can build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation. “Each compatible app can set its own community standards and content moderation policies, meaning people have the freedom to choose spaces that align with their values.”

9. For some of Threads’s first users, it comes with the hope of creating a less toxic social platform.”May this platform have good vibes, strong community, excellent humour, and less harassment,” US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a post. Others hold a more cautionary view of Meta’s advancements, as the company already owns two major social media platforms and two chatting apps, Messenger and WhatsApp. “It would become worrisome if Meta were to become dominant in all of those areas,” Dr Barnet said.

As social media continues to play a significant role in political discourse, how can platforms foster a more inclusive and constructive environment for public discussions? What strategies can be employed to combat echo chambers and encourage diverse perspectives without compromising freedom of speech?

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