Instagram Is Launching Its Twitter Competitor 'Threads' on Thursday. Here's How to Sign Up. Potential Threads users can download an invitation through Instagram by searching for "threads."
Key Takeaways
- Instagram's Threads, a text-based app and Twitter rival, is available for pre-order in the U.S. in the App Store.
- Current Instagram users can get an invite though the app.
- Threads is set to launch Thursday.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, is launching its Twitter competitor "Threads by Instagram" on Thursday, according to the countdown clock on its App Store and web page (and several reports).
The launch comes at a time when Twitter users have been searching for alternatives after a series of changes occurred following Elon Musk's purchase last fall. Twitter co-founder and billionaire Jack Dorsey's Twitter-like app, Bluesky, for example, reportedly saw "record" numbers last week. Still, so far, no copycats have been able to compete with the social media giant that Musk bought for $44 billion.
How To Get Threads
Ahead of the launch, potential Threads users can download an invitation through Instagram by searching for "threads" and clicking on the red ticket that appears at the end of the search bar.
Screenshot of author's Instagram
Related: Twitter Temporarily Sets Rate Limits for Users, Blames 'Extreme Levels of Data Scraping'
The invites are also available by tapping the three lines next to your profile, per CNBC.
What might set Threads apart is accessibility. Dorsey's Bluesky is still in Beta with an invite-only system that feels exclusive (and standoffish), while Instagram's version reportedly will merge with your current account, keep your username, and (looks) to be open to everyone.
Original story below:
Instagram is "secretly testing" a text-based app to compete with Twitter, and the debut may happen as soon as next month, Bloomberg reported.
The new platform has reportedly already been available to select celebrities and creators for months and is a separate app from Instagram, but there will be an option to link accounts.
Lia Haberman, an adjunct professor at UCLA in social and influencer marketing, tweeted a screenshot of the new platform, per Bloomberg.
"It's impossible to predict how audiences will respond but this could be an alternative," she wrote.
Based on a (somewhat blurry) example I got, Meta's new app looks a lot like Twitter.
— Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) May 19, 2023
So, could this take over all the Twitter screenshots we've been seeing on the Feed lately? Maybe.
It's impossible to predict how audiences will respond but this could be an alternative. pic.twitter.com/xgQa1kUjCl
Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, many users have grown frustrated with the changes — from reinstating controversial accounts to the adoption of Twitter Blue.
Data shows that even the most dedicated tweeters are losing interest. According to a survey from Pew Research Center, activity for Twitter's "most active" users declined by 25% since Musk's acquisition of the platform.
Related: 'It's a Long Story': Elon Musk Publicly Apologizes to Disabled Employee After Squabble on Twitter
BIZ Experiences has reached out to Meta, the owner of Instagram, for comment.
