The features – likes, retweets, following – are nearly identical to its longstanding microblog predecessor. Meta’s clone of Twitter does feel like, well, using Twitter. How will our curated, photo-based lives clash with the freewheeling, meme-heavy and often unhinged world of Twitter? So far, it’s strange, unfamiliar – and kind of fun. Some have raised the question of a potential culture clash between Instagram and a Twitter-like service. We tested the app from the US, but it’s now live in Apple and Google Android app stores in more than 100 countries including Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. It also allows users to share up to 10 photos in a single post – the same limit that exists on Instagram – as opposed to Twitter’s limit of four images. Unlike Twitter, Threads does not seem to use hashtags and does not have a feature that allows users to search for specific text or phrases. The feed was slick and easy to read, though for now it was populated largely with accounts I did not yet follow or care about – perhaps an issue that will resolve itself as more people sign up. Using Threads felt like a fever dream in which Twitter and Instagram had a more usable brain child. Posts are limited to 500 characters, which is more than Twitter’s 280-character threshold, and can include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long. Opening the app reveals buttons to like, repost, reply to or quote a “thread”, and counters showing the number of likes and replies that a post has received. Threads felt like a fever dream in which Twitter and Instagram had a more usable brain child Threads offers an eerily Twitter-like microblogging experience. For now, you can follow me at How it works I was left wondering if I should make a separate Threads account based on my personal Instagram page, but that’s a question for another time. Threads can only be accessed by integrating an existing Instagram username to sign up – meaning if you don’t have an account, you have to get one to enter the new Threads platform. The app asked me to connect my Instagram account to sign up, and I switched over from my personal to my professional page – sorry, readers, I will not be revealing my finsta here. I started by searching “Threads” in the app store, scrolled through some small apps unfortunately also named Threads (RIP to those, inevitably), and clicked on Threads by Meta. The debut revealed an easy-to-use, intuitive user experience that easily integrates with Instagram.

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