Twitter rivals pile up amid Meta’s launch of Threads
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Threads looks a lot like a pared-back version of Twitter, with users able to like, comment on and share posts.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - Since Mr Elon Musk took over Twitter eight months ago
Now, Facebook owner Meta is jumping into the ring, launching its own contender
Here is a breakdown of Twitter’s wannabe alternatives.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads
Described as Instagram’s “text-based conversation app”, Meta’s Threads will certainly spice up the rivalry between Twitter’s Mr Musk and Meta supremo Zuckerberg.
Threads looks a lot like a pared-back version of Twitter
A plan to make Threads inter-operable with other Twitter rivals such as Mastodon is on hold for now, but not abandoned.
Bluesky, Jack Dorsey’s Twitter clone
Bluesky was created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey
The upstart told CNBC it experienced record-high traffic on Saturday after Mr Musk said Twitter would temporarily limit the number of posts
Bluesky looks and feels like Twitter, as its backers want users from the Mr Musk-owned site to feel at home.
Bluesky was actually created as a Twitter side project in 2019, as a way to think about a decentralised version of the platform where users – and not the company – are more in control of personal data and content moderation.
It also uses something called an AT Protocol that allows people to maintain their identities across multiple platforms.
Mastodon, the anti-Twitter
Unknown to the general public, Mastodon saw its popularity explode when Mr Musk took over Twitter,
Created in 2016 by German developer Eugen Rochko, the site is also a decentralised social network without advertising, where preserving privacy is sacrosanct.
In practice, Mastodon – like Twitter – is based on the posting of small messages, but each new user must sign up to an independently run server, and there are thousands of them.
In theory, users can interact freely across the Mastodon servers, but this can be complicated and unreliable.
Many new users complain about the platform’s less-than-intuitive interface, underlining the difficulty of creating an account and the poor response times, unlike sites run by the tech giants.
Content moderation is also a big question mark as it is left to the sole discretion of server administrators, with some refusing access to others, disrupting the experience.
Substack Notes
In an act of vengeance, Mr Musk earlier in 2023 briefly blocked links and search responses to Substack, the site that helps writers monetise their work, after the site launched Substack Notes
Notes, much like Twitter, allows writers to post short pieces of content such as links, images and quotes, and helps guide users to paid content. Mr Musk reversed his retribution decision, but has since heavily promoted ways that Twitter will help users make money.
Substack Notes has faced some flak as it is not yet sure how it will manage content moderation, but says it will feel less pressure to cook up viral content since its revenue is based on taking a cut from writer pages and not page views and advertising.
Niche platforms
A few other start-ups are also attracting attention, especially ones that cater to a specific audience.
Right-wing sites such as Gab or Truth Social, the platform launched by former United States president Donald Trump,
Discord is a platform used especially by gamers
The site made the headlines when a 21-year-old American national guardsman named Jack Teixeira allegedly used it to share a trove of sensitive US documents
