Launched as a response to Twitter, Meta’s Threads is somewhat of a companion app to the media-driven Instagram.
But now it looks like it might start taking on more of Instagram’s features as Threads revealed plans on its blog to launch a much-requested in-camera app.
While it might seem redundant, it looks like the apps appeal to different audiences thus making some shared features a necessity to stay competitive (X, the new name for Twitter, does have photo and video posting capabilities, after all).
And who doesn’t want another place to show off some of their latest photos although we would imagine that the pics posted on threads are going to be sort of like what Instagram had in the beginning: Captures in the moment, spontaneous snaps, things like that. Speaking of snaps, both Instagram and Threads are gunning for Snapchat’s market in messaging, video, and photos so there’s a lot at play here.
Initially debuting with over 100 million signups, the app kind of died off quickly after that. Some people were starting to think that Threads was a fluke but Meta reports otherwise. The company says more people use it now than they did at the onset of the Threads era hence why they are “testing” out some of the more popular requested features to keep this momentum going.
Of course, all of this is somewhat of a far cry from Meta’s original plan (and inspiration behind the name change): The Metaverse. But that’s still going on. With generative AI, among other things, there’s probably a place for that kind of service, advanced versions of which will likely incorporate lens and camera technology that pushes the envelope even more. Or it could all be a gigantic hype bubble. We will report to you what happens either way.
Have you given Threads a shot? What do you think about social media and photography’s future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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