Amid growing competition in the world of social media, Meta has finally launched Threads in Italy and Europe, overcoming the challenges imposed by regulations such as GDPR , DMA. This move marks a significant step for the company in the social context. I know that the last year has been very turbulent given the Elon Musk's moves, now patron of X.
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Threads in Italy and Europe: a strategic turning point for Meta
Meta has officially introduced its new social platform, Threads, to European markets, after addressing and resolving regulatory complexities. Initially launched as aalternative to X (formerly known as Twitter), Threads has cleverly capitalized on X's moments of uncertainty under Elon Musk's new direction.
With impressive initial growth, Threads has seen 41 millions of downloads, surpassing the downloads of X in the corresponding period. Although X maintains a larger user base, with approximately 500 million active monthly users, Threads has quickly reached 100 million users, showing significant growth potential.
Meta has had to navigate through a complex regulatory environment, particularly due to the recent Digital Markets Directive (DMA) and the Digital Services Law, which they imposed restrictions on data collection and exchange. Meta spokesperson, Christine Father, expressed concerns about “imminent regulatory uncertainty,” highlighting the difficulties encountered in adapting to these new rules.
The success of Threads in Europe is not only an indication of its popularity but also reflects the Meta's ability to adapt and innovate in a constantly evolving regulatory landscape. With continuous improvements, such as the introduction of functions Multilingual a version websites, it's a button di modification, Threads is positioning itself as a serious competitor in the social media market, despite some limitations, such as the absence of a historical search function for security reasons.
How to access Threads in Italy
To register on the new social network, all you need to do is have an active Instagram account. With this you can read, post and comment. If you don't have an Instagram account, you can proceed “as a guest”: however, this mode does not allow you to comment and post on Threads.
To use Threads, you can sign in via the website or via mobile app, available on iOS e Android. The user interface is intuitive, with icons for the home page, search, creating new posts, notifications, and profile access.
If you access via Instagram, all the profiles followed on this social network will be "imported" to the new social network: therefore if you follow someone on Instagram, you will automatically follow them on Threads too.
How it works
The functioning of Threads is similar to that of Twitter and Mastodon. Users can follow other accounts to view their content, with an algorithm suggesting publications relevant to their interests. The platform supports text messages up to 500 characters, enriched with images, videos, GIFs and surveys. Additionally, you can reply to, share, or quote other users' posts.
One of the peculiarities of Threads is the double timeline"For you“, which combines the contents of followed users with others selected by the algorithm, and “followed“, which only shows posts from followed accounts. This dual timeline can be found at the bottom left of the main window (from the web) as can be seen in the photos below. Furthermore, the integration with Instagram allows you to easily share posts on Threads in Instagram Stories, increasing interaction between the two platforms.
Threads also offers a variety of options, such as publishing Message textual, multimedia content, GIF, thread creation, specific polls and the use of hashtags. Users can express appreciation via “I like it“, reply to posts, share messages and cite them with personal comments. The platform also includes advanced sharing features and possibility to translate posts into other languages. The integration with ActivityPub, currently in the testing phase, promises further interactions with other social networks.
