Twitter rival Threads launched, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey are now shadow-boxing on social media

Rumoured and leaked for long, Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter rival Threads is here. And as the new app launches, Zuckerberg, Twitter Boss Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey are already throwing proverbial punches at each other on their respective social media sites.

• Threads is a text-based social media app similar to Twitter.
• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls Threads a friendly place for everyone, unlike Twitter.
• Elon Musk mocks Threads calling it a copy of Twitter.

“We’re only in the opening moments of the first round here” — this is how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced his latest social media app called Threads. Built to rival Twitter — and likely built by mirroring the core user interface and functionality of Twitter — Threads is a companion app to Instagram. At a time when Twitter under Elon Musk is facing existential risk, Threads is also a potential Twitter killer. The reality is not lost on Musk. Or for that matter, on Jack Dorsey, the Twitter co-founder who earlier helped sell his website to Musk and yet seems to somehow still feel attached to his baby. In fact, it was Dorsey who fired the first salvo a few days ago.

On July 4 when it became apparent that Zuckerberg had brought the launch of Threads forward to cash in on Twitter’s Rate Limit problems, Dorsey raised the spectre of privacy and data surveillance.

In a tweet, Dorsey posted a screenshot from the Threads app — which was visible on the Apple App Store — showing all the data that the app will collect from its users. As it happens with apps created by Zuckerberg & company, Threads is also thirsty for user data. Dorsey in his tweet said, “All your Threads are belong to us.”

Now that Threads has arrived and users are jumping on it, Zuckerberg is hitting back. On Thursday, while replying to users he wrote, ” We’re only in the opening moments of the first round here… I’d say round one is off to a good start!”

The comments are rather amusing, but more so when seen in the context of that proposed Elon Musk and Zuckerberg ring fight. Of course, this talk doesn’t have much basis and no such fight is going to take place, but both Musk and Zuckerberg in their social media banter have talked about it. While Musk has been of late seen training in the martial art with Lex Friedman, a podcaster who practises Jiu-jitsu, Zuckerberg has commented by saying “Send me the location” of the fight.

In his comments on Thursday, Zuckerberg also hinted that with Threads he is indeed after Twitter. Replying to a user he wrote, “Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have… Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”

Musk calls Threads a Twitter copy

Musk, meanwhile, is taking potshots at Threads in his replies on Twitter. Replying to a user, Musk said that Threads is a copy — CTRL + SHIFT + V — of Twitter. Zuckerberg knew that such talk would occur because Twitter and Threads are indeed similar. So, he had earlier tweeted — after some grande 11 years — in a bid to pre-empt the accusations. Zuckerberg’s tweet: the photo of Spiderman meme where the image has two Spiderman’s pointing fingers at each other.

To be more specific, Musk is attacking the connection between Threads and Instagram. In case you haven’t tried Threads yet, the way Meta has created it, the new social media app mandatorily requires an Instagram account to use. Also, the Threads timeline is automatically populated with content from people whom you are already following on Instagram.

Musk on Thursday said, “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”

Similarly, when a user wrote, “My Facebook (and) Instagram social graph is basically all the people I knew in High School… A place where you can read all the Twitter-like thoughts of the people you follow on Instagram sounds like a special hell,” Elon Musk replied to him. His reply: an emoji of 100 per cent.

Users too get into the fun

The introduction of Threads has reignited the debate about the future of Twitter, particularly in light of all the changes that the website has suffered after Elon Musk bought it. Some users believe that Threads will pose a serious threat to Twitter as it comes with no restrictions, unlike Twitter which is toying with Rate Limit for users. They also feel that Threads is better because it does not give power exclusively to paid users unlike what Twitter is doing by selling Twitter Blue and reserving the best features for these paying users.

At the same time, many Twitter users believe that threads are just a fad. They believe that the new text app by Meta is just riding on the wave of hype and serves as a complement to Twitter. Many are also concerned about privacy issues and the long list of permissions that the Threads app requires.

In addition to that, people are highlighting the Meta policy that states that to delete the account of Threads, users will have to delete their Instagram as well. “At this time, you can’t delete your Threads profile without deleting your Instagram account. This is something we’re working on. In the meantime, you can deactivate your Threads profile at any time,” Meta earlier told BBC. “Deactivating your Threads profile will not deactivate your Instagram account.” The statement is now popular among Elon Musk’s fans and who are trying to raise an alarm against the migration that many are making from Twitter to Threads.