Threads broke the record for the fastest growing app, with over 100 million users in less than a week. The Twitter rival dethrones ChatGPT, the previous record holder, which, although not exactly an app, had gained 100 million users in just two months. Previously, TikTok held that record, hitting the 100 million user mark in nine months.
Threads, which launched on July 5 for iOS and Android (but still not in France for regulatory reasons), uses users’ Instagram credentials to sign up, allowing the current 1.6 billion users to photo-sharing application to take the plunge more easily. It is, however, a separate app from Instagram that users must download and then activate their Threads profile to use it.
So far, this is the first real alternative to Twitter to take off. However, registered users are not the same as active users.
The pitfall of personal data mining in the EU
“Several Twitter clones have emerged over the years, but they have failed to catch on with the mainstream,” says Mark Weinstein, social media and privacy expert and founder of MeWe. . “By integrating with Instagram and its existing billions of users (much more than Twitter), Threads could be the first Twitter clone to have a real chance of breaking free from its segment’s stranglehold, while garnering masses of data about its users, and selling it to advertisers.”
And that is what poses a problem for France and Europe. Because although available in 100 countries, Threads does not operate in the European Union. What raises all the more the exploit to have obtained in one week 100 million users. Because this record number of users does not include potential users from the EU.
Meta, however, plans to launch Threads in the EU in the future. Still, the question of the use of personal data may not be the only blockage. EU antitrust laws could also be involved.
“Like Meta’s other products like Facebook and Instagram, it looks like Threads will earn revenue through data collection and surveillance capitalism,” Weinstein adds. “According to Apple’s app privacy details, Threads will collect a plethora of user data, including locations, contacts, purchases, browsing history, search history, financial information, health & fitness, and more.”
Source: “ZDNet.com”