Threads Review: A Promising New Platform or Spamming Privacy Nightmare?

I don't like Twitter. This type of short-form conversation was not much appealing to me even back in 2008, and in the years to come, it just became more boring and, in some cases, a bit toxic, so I rarely post anything there. Therefore, I was not enthusiastic about the new similar platform, Twitter competitor, Threads. Nevertheless, I decided to install and test it as soon as it was launched to understand its features and potential better.

The new platform powered by Meta broke all records regarding the number of new users. Threads reached 100 million users in only five days, thus becoming the fastest-growing social network app ever ChatGPT reached 100 million users in 2 months, TikTok took nine months, and Instagram took 2.5 years to reach 100 million users following its launch in 2010.?

Reaching 100 million users in such a short time period is not a big surprise considering that Threads relies on the existing database of more than two billion active Instagram users. Connecting with existing apps takes less time and effort than discovering something from scratch. However, the most recent reports show that after the initial success, Threads are slowing down. Not only that, but the number of daily active users (DAU) is decreasing, along with the duration of the user activity on the app (from 20 minutes in the first week of launch after July 5th to 10 minutes in the last few days which is a significant decrease of 50%). It seems that after the highly successful launch, the platform is not managing to keep its users engaged. And I might have some idea why this is happening...

Threads is launched as a major Twitter competitor with several similar features. It is a text-based social network, and, as on Twitter, you can also share other media (up to 10 pictures in the post compared with a maximum of 4 on Twitter). The interface and the concept are very similar to Twitter, so no wonder that the platform was announced as a Twitter competitor or, as some would say, “Twitter-killer”.

In case you are still not among these 100-plus million users of Threads, getting there is quite simple if you already have an Instagram account since platforms are connected. You just install the Threads app, connect it with your Instagram account, and – voila! You are now a Threads user. Upon installation, the app will ask you to import your Instagram connections. You will immediately connect with those who already have installed the app, so you can see in your timeline what your connections on Instagram are posting in the Threads app.

Or at least I presumed that would be the case.?

However, I (along with other users) was up for a surprise. By default, the Threads app was not showing the content from my connections and the accounts I am interested in following. Instead, I was overwhelmed with the content from various accounts I had never seen before, and I had to scroll down a lot to find at least one or two accounts from my connections.

Unlike Twitter which is showing posts in reverse chronological order (and as such became an important source of breaking news) Threads uses similar algorithms as Instagram and Facebook and should be showing the posts based on the interests no matter when they are posted.

Not sure how this algorithm works, but my timeline on Threads consists of posts from accounts like lovequotes, archaeology, shitologyofficial (?), wisdommadeeasy, spiritualasylum, championsleague, playstationarabia, successadictives, happycatsclub (OK, they got that one!), and a number of some verified accounts from various individuals where my interest for the topics they post about range from 0 to minus 10. So, in the past two weeks, I was able to see and learn many new things, for example how the snake Larry got his first job today, delve into motivational quotes, find out about the last results in the champions league, and learn how to improve my love life. Just what I was looking for from the social media platform!

Initially, I thought this might be up to default settings, so I went to Settings/Notifications/Threads and Replies and, in all sections, chose only people I follow. Nothing changed significantly; now, I can see around 30% of the content from the people I actually follow, along with 70% of entirely irrelevant content. In a time of highly personalized content tailored according to user preferences, why would I spend time on the platform continuously spamming me with unwanted content??

Another thing I almost immediately noticed is that #hashtags are not enabled on Threads. We all got used to hashtags, and this is a great way to explore the connected topics of your interest and to follow the trending conversations, something that we are used to doing on Twitter (and other social media platforms).

I have explored some of the comments and reviews from other users, and another major point raised by some in comparison to Twitter is the lack of anonymity and privacy issues. By connecting Threads with Instagram and Facebook, where most of us are with our real identities, the anonymity that can exist on Twitter is not likely to happen. This might not be such a bad thing (going back to my dislike of Twitter and the rude and toxic content I often see there), but for some users, this might be the reason not to join this Twitter-like platform.

However, a really major issue (and the reason for Threads not being available in EU countries) is related to user privacy. Based on the app's privacy policy, it may collect highly sensitive information about users, such as financial info, health data, precise location, browsing history, contacts, identifiers, and other sensitive information. With the strict EU legislation related to data protection and privacy, it may be a while before the platform becomes available in EU countries.

Above is a list of data collected by Threads. If you already installed it and now you are thinking of deleting it - forget about it unless you also want to delete your Instagram account. As it is now, once installed, there is no option to delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram account and get out of this privacy nightmare, as the prominent Techcrunch blog called it.

Considering my dislike of microblogging platforms (including Twitter), I presumed I might be biased initially when I signed up for Threads. However, putting that aside, and after two weeks of testing it, I do not see anything as impressive as some other reviews online are suggesting, and I do see a significant privacy concern along with the annoying timeline full of unwanted content.

So if you are not still on Threads, decide whether you want to join or not. And if you are - share your opinion and experience in the comments.

Happy Threading!