Kenyans on Thursday, July 6, woke up to the highly anticipated launch of the new Meta social media app, Thread. The launch sparked a wave of enthusiasm among users.
Such was the buzz that it is expected that the platform could rival even Twitter's popularity.
Threads was designed by Meta which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
Notably, Kenya was among the first 100 countries where the app was rolled out.
What It Is
Boasting of features similar to Twitter, owned by Billionaire Elon Musk, Thread allows its users to share posts, links photos and videos. However, the videos are limited to 5 minutes.
Zuckerberg explained that the app was launched to help social media enthusiasts follow conversations around the globe.
"The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads," Meta announced.
Analysts view Thread as a rival to Musk's Twitter which recently introduced new features such as limited tweet views and paid-for verifications.
How it Works
The application is embedded with Instagram which allows users to sign up for the platform using their existing IG accounts.
To make the sign-up process easy, users are allowed to import their profile details and connect with their existing Instagram followers. However, someone can choose to create their profile from scratch.
Users can also choose to make their accounts public or private.
"Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet.
"You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose," read a statement by Meta.
To engage with a post, users can like, comment and share posts that interest them. Similar to Twitter's retweet feature, users have the option to repost the content, either with a quote or without.
To protect users below the age of 18, Instagram announced that all accounts in that category would be made private.
More features are set to be introduced in time as Meta monitors the app's uptake. Currently, over 10 million people have signed up for the new platform.
"In addition to working toward making Threads compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, soon we’ll be adding a number of new features to help you continue to discover threads and creators you’re interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real-time," Meta announced.
You can follow Kenyans.co.ke verified account through www.threads.net/@kenyans.co.ke.
