The digital world is abuzz with an escalating rivalry between Threads, a microblogging app owned by Instagram and Meta, and social media giant Twitter. Threads is anticipated to be a formidable contender to Twitter and is slated for launch on July 6, 2023.

According to a statement by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, threads, Meta’s contender against Twitter, has garnered more than 10 million sign-ups within the initial hours following its launch.

Thread is a platform designed to foster community discussions on various subjects, from today’s trending topics to tomorrow’s hot discussions. The app allows users to follow and connect directly with their favorite creators and others with similar interests. Moreover, according to the app’s App Store description, individuals can amass their devoted followers to share their ideas, viewpoints, and creativity globally.

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A review of both apps’ official App Store release notes suggests that Threads collects a more comprehensive range of data than Twitter does. There are 14 various types of data that Threads collect, including sensitive data, identifiers, financial information, health information, and shopping and search history.  On the other hand, Twitter only collects information about seven categories: location, identifiers, content posted by users, contact information, usage information, past web searches, and transactions. 

On Threads, you’re granted a larger character limit than Twitter’s standard 280 – a full 500 characters, to be precise.

However, Threads shares a standard feature with Twitter that’s been a mainstay for years – there’s no option to edit a post once it’s been published.

Currently, even posting basic text threads on the platform requires a bit of time, leading to questions about whether Meta has adequately optimized its backend systems. Each post I’ve made thus far takes around five seconds to go live, likely due to the surge of new users Meta is dealing with. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, who goes by @Zuck on Threads, is building up 49,200 supporters, a huge rise from the 45,000 he had earlier.

Meanwhile, Twitter has faced its share of controversies, with CEO Elon Musk being criticized for limiting the number of tweets visible to unverified users. This policy triggered a significant uproar among Twitter users.

Several contentious decisions have marked Musk’s leadership of Twitter. One important improvement was introducing a subscription-based authentication system, allowing users to get the prestigious blue check symbol by paying $8 monthly.

Reports have indicated that Threads has a close relationship with Instagram, with users having to use their Instagram login for access and share the same username and profile picture. Considering Meta’s past controversies, such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal and privacy issues, the unfolding competition between Threads and Twitter will pit tech magnates Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk against each other.