back to article Oh, great. Yet another tech billionaire thinks he can get microblogging right

Twitter users dismayed by Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service will soon have an alternative – albeit one run by another tech billionaire. Meta's long-rumored Twitteresque effort is set to debut later this week. Zuck's version will be tied to Instagram and dubbed Threads. The service already has a web …

  1. DS999 Silver badge

    If it were anyone else

    It might have a good chance. But I don't think people want Facebook to have an effective monopoly of social networking (other than Tik Tok, which state governments and probably eventually the federal government will take care of in the US)

    1. alain williams Silver badge

      Re: If it were anyone else

      Unfortunately most people will not think about the privacy implications. If you tell them they will say something like: "Oh, yeah. But I want to use this. Will it really matter ?" and then think no more about it once their mate tells them that they have put up a message on Threads.

      There are many reason why Threads might fail; privacy is not one of them -- unfortunately.

      1. Korev Silver badge
        Big Brother

        Re: If it were anyone else

        > There are many reason why Threads might fail; privacy is not one of them -- unfortunately.

        I remember a huge amount of fuss about the WhatsApp privacy changes. The end result is that I have a few friends who use Threema, Signal etc (hence having the apps on my phone) and most people still use WhatsApp.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: If it were anyone else

          Yes, there was outrage and then most people forgot. But Facebook has still not implemented the proposed changes.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: If it were anyone else

          Most people still use WhatsApp because of a bunch of stubborn hold outs that won't shift elsewhere due to familiarity...same reason Microsoft Office is still everywhere...it's got absolutely nothing to do with it being "better" or anything like that.

          I've been doing my bit for a while chipping away at stubborn hold outs by moving certain tasks to different tools...far and away the biggest thing that lures people away from doing things in Office is tools that use Markdown formatting. When you show a person that does a lot of typing a tool like Typora...it's like you've just shown them Jesus...then when you tell them that Markdown is supported all over the place, it's like you've revealed a secret layer of the internet to them and they can now wield dark magic.

          With instant messengers / social media though, it's a bit trickier...because a lot of their contacts might not be using the alternatives. Which means even if you blow their minds, they can't move because their friends won't move...or their audience isn't there.

          We've had feasible alternatives to Twitter for a while...e.g. Mastodon...but it has, as yet, failed to usurp the crown...despite being technically a better product for a lot of people.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: If it were anyone else

          The funny thing is that businesses still use WhatsApp. I think it's time to have a chat with NOYB to complain to the EU (they know the path through that bureaucratic maze) and see it go kaboom, because for most companies it only takes one SINGLE personal entry in someone's phonebook for that to be a potential up breach of GDPR.

          It'll be rather entertaining, I think.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: If it were anyone else

            And as we've seen in the news over the last few weeks, and refreshed in the public's consciousness just today, UK government use WhatsApp too. Whether it's official, sanctioned or whatever is now moot though since a court has ruled that if it's used for Government business it's an "official record".

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: If it were anyone else

        "There are many reason why Threads might fail; privacy is not one of them -- unfortunately."

        I do sometimes wonder (hope?) if the "data fetish bubble" will eventually burst, either from a user backlash or an industry realisation that all this data isn't actually of any real use or a combination of factors. Will advertisers eventually realise that targetting ads down to a specific person doesn't work or becomes uneconomic? Will there be a "race to the bottom" as all the existing and new "data warehouses" compete to sell the same data and compete each other out of business? Will the app writers see the rates for collecting data drop low enough that it's no longer worth it? Or will someone develop SDKs that don't data rape but still provide them for free to devs? Will any or all of this happen in my lifetime? Confused? You will be after this weeks episode of Soap :-)

    2. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      Boffin

      Microblogging

      This is a solution looking for a problem. If magically all Twitter-like services stopped working permanently, it would have no negative effect on human civilization.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Microblogging

        true, but certain "journalists" would have to either start doing their job or find a new job, which could be a plus for civilisation :-)

    3. Phil Kingston

      Re: If it were anyone else

      I don't think people think beyond "all my mates are on this one, so I will use it too".

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Greater of Two Evils

    is still Evil.

    1. Helcat Silver badge

      Re: The Greater of Two Evils

      And so is the lesser, which is possibly more important to remember.

  3. TheMaskedMan Silver badge

    Clearly his Muskiness doesn't want non-paying users - I imagine twitter's landlords feel much the same. But there's certain logic in it. Removing - or inconveniencing until they remove themselves - non-payers reduces load and removes reliance on advertising,, thus enabling his Muskiness do as he pleases without being beholden to advertiser's. Of course, the remaining user might not pay enough to be profitable.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Masterful gambit, sir

      Musk torching the building while Zuckerborg opens up a shiny new gin parlour opposite is absolute 4D chess. Can't fail. If anyone doubts that then they're not a rocket scientist like Musk totally is.

      1. LogicGate Silver badge

        Re: Masterful gambit, sir

        Will the promised gin parlour come with a thunderdome for cage-fighting?..Preferrably of the "Two billionaire wankers enter, none will come out" -style?

        Edit: Spellchecking

    2. Headley_Grange Silver badge

      Death Spiral

      Dunno. The pros and other paying Twits are probably relying on a significant chunk of non-paying users to make their money. The ad-slingers who rely on sheer numbers of viewers to get their hit rate will be less happy and I imagine (don't know why) that people paying for their Twitter a/c will be less interested/susceptible to advertising. There's no such thing as an influencer if there's no one to be influenced.

    3. phuzz Silver badge

      That might be a good plan, if the business model of any social media platform didn't rely on all of it's value coming from it's users.

      If there's no users, not only do advertisers not want to spend money, but also new users don't want to join either.

      1. TheMaskedMan Silver badge

        "If there's no users, not only do advertisers not want to spend money, but also new users don't want to join either."

        Imagine something like twitter but without all the celebs / politicians, wannabe celebs, those that follow them cos they're celebs and all the other wastes of oxygen that currently infest the platform. There might even be less toxicity, though it would still be the internet so maybe not.

        People with interesting / useful things to say could say them to people who wanted to hear, without the drama or advertising deluge. That might attract a certain type of user, who might well be willing to pay.

        You'd be offloading the dross to, say, threads, and keeping the useful, paying users. And since they're already paying users, you have the potential to sell them other stuff, too.

        Trouble is, I'm not sure there would be enough paying users to make it viable.

    4. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

      A Twitter where there are only paying users is a bit self-effacing. Only famous people, actors etc will be able to read about each others' inane and irrelevant points of view.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        It's already reached the point where Twitter, Facebook et all are blocking big chunks of the screen and limiting what and how much you see without logging in such that officialdom is starting to take notice, eg if their only or primary[*] channels to the public requires people to create and account with all the data raping going on, then that's a huge GDPR-by-proxy breach.

        [*] often it's the one they push the most in publicity rather than their own website for some obscure reason.

  4. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    ... and Other info."

    i.e. _all_ other info, all we can get that we don't already have. And your pets.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: ... and Other info."

      Yeah. Thing's barely started and already it's sucking your data like there's no tomorrow.

      My sexual orientation and political beliefs ? For a chat service ?

      No thank you. Another site I'll stay away from.

      1. Valeyard

        Re: ... and Other info."

        I think political beliefs and sexual orientation are 90% of what people post there anyway

      2. GruntyMcPugh

        Re: ... and Other info."

        You don't have to answer honestly, and if there is an 'other' box, just answer 'Fish' for both.

        1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

          Re: Just answer 'Fish'

          Rule 34 strikes again: NSFW.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: ... and Other info."

        The benefit of an electronic identity is that you can have a sex and pronoun change every hour if you so wish :). I'm pretty sure they don't have a box "all of the above" there yet, and messing up statistics is fun.

        I would not ever use social media for anything serious - if I use it at all. I have an FB and a Twatter account, but both are under fake names and the face on it was generated on thispersondoesnotexist.com. And I use a VPN. I have it for research - I don't interact with anyone.

        1. Headley_Grange Silver badge

          Re: ... and Other info."

          If you think they're getting your sexual, political and other preferences from boxes you tick then you possibly haven't understood how social media works.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: ... and Other info."

            Oh, I do. That's why cross linking conflicting accounts is so much fun.

            :)

  5. Khaptain Silver badge

    Twitterati rejoice

    Now all those unhappy Anti-Elon Twitterati persons can rejoice as they have a new wonderful alternative. Mark loves strong ideological voices, what's not to like...

    No longer will it be necessary to vent ones spleen on El Reg because Twitter doesn't agree with your their ideology.

    Oh happy days....

  6. Andy 73 Silver badge

    Funny

    Funny how tribalistic people are about their preferred social media platform. One of those Yes Minister irregular verbs: "I am expressing my opinion, you are ranting, they are a dribbling idiot".

    For those of us who use Twitter for work, it has been a decent way to discover a pretty good community - though there's no doubt that Musk's behaviour has had a serious impact on the number of active users. If Zuck provides a good platform to reach out to like minded people, then great. For all that people whinge and moan about these services (your personal details aren't that precious, precious), they do actually help a lot of their users, from personal support between friends, to communities and businesses. Mastodon certainly isn't a better technical solution than Twitter, so a little more competition is welcome.

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Funny

      > For those of us who use Twitter for work, it has been a decent way to discover a pretty good community

      Yeah, it used to be great. You'd see loads of interesting stuff posted by the leaders in the field. In my line of work, the majority of the big players are academics, so when Trump & Brexit happened, the platform turned into frustrated ranting. It kind of recovered from that, but now when I log on I see almost no posts at all.

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Funny

        You do realise that we have moved on since Trump and Brexit , or do you prefer to perpetually live in the past ?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Funny

          Yeah, Biden, Sunak and Ukraine. Such an enormous improvement.

        2. Headley_Grange Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          Where do you get your news from?

        3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          I think you missed the word "now" in the OP.

        4. IGotOut Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          "You do realise that we have moved on since Trump and Brexit ,"

          Wow, when did we rejoin the EU? I clearly missed that.

          Still it's not like a lot of the people that voted for it are probably dead by now, leaving those that voted against it to live with the consequences for at least the next few decades

          1. Justthefacts Silver badge

            Re: Funny

            TLDR; The demand for Zimmer frames is projected to go to zero within twenty years….all the customers will be dead!

            You realise that the “gammons” you hate so much were once Flower Children during the Summer of Love, right? The Socialist Worker Party remains strong among students, was strong 20 years ago, and 20 years before that. Always has been, always will be. Doesn’t mean that the Socialist Workers are the future of U.K. politics. People grow up, their opinions shift, somewhat predictably over time. They have life experiences beyond what they are told on websites.

            Population opinion may indeed swing. But the “demographic” argument is pure BS. The fact that Remainers still resort to it, shows that beneath the bluster they realise that the % have likely *not* changed.

    2. abend0c4 Silver badge

      Re: Funny

      It's not really that funny: people are socially tribal so it's hardly surprising their online activity reflects this. Twitter was actually rather less tribal than most with a wide range of interest groups largely interacting within their respective groups but visible to anyone who might have a passing interest. It was actively promoted in the UK academic community as a means of engaging both with other academics and with the general public. Although there was always politics, it too was largely confined to the anoraks - politicians and journalists. Opinionated loud-mouths might have got the headlines, but they were the minority.

      Old Twitter was no doubt overstaffed, but was economically sustainable within modest ambitions. Modest ambitions, unfortunately, were not enough for Musk and I don't really see Meta as being the kind of outfit to learn that lesson.

    3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Funny

      "personal support between friends"

      There remains the possibility of dialling the friend's number, putting one end of the phone to your ear and talking.

      1. Arthur the cat Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: Funny

        There remains the possibility of dialling the friend's number, putting one end of the phone to your ear and talking.

        I've heard this is de facto impossible for anyone under the age of 30.

        1. Justthefacts Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          Impossible below the age of *40* from my experience.

        2. J.G.Harston Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          I've heard this is de facto impossible for anyone under the age of 30.

          Yes, from observation it seems they have somehow picked up that the way to use a phone is to hold it in front of your mouth like a spit tray.

          Seriously, How. On. Earth. have these people picked up that this is how to use a phone? What part of their brain is missing that prevents them being aware of the universe around them and people using telephones? And the more that people do it, the more that people with holes in their head pick up from observing their fellow sheep that that is the method by which a phone is used.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Windows

            Re: Funny

            "Seriously, How. On. Earth. have these people picked up that this is how to use a phone?"

            Monkey see, monkey do. They see it on TV where it's done for a reasons, ie so the cameras and mics can get both ends of the conversation, eg in "reality" shows which I believe are quite popular amongst the youth of today :-)

        3. Scotthva5

          Re: Funny

          Judging by my two 20-something daughters I'm inclined to agree. Whenever I call them to verify that their vocal cords are in fact functional I receive a disapproving tone of voice that suggests "Jeez Daddy you're so old". My teenage son on the other hand refuses to communicate with anyone unless it's through TikToc or SnapChat.

      2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: Funny

        Given the general crapness of mobile phones at making actual phone calls, that may not really be an option...

    4. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Funny

      For those of us who use Twitter for work

      You owe me a new keyboard!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Funny

        Hey, influencer* is a serious full time job in some countries.

        --

        *aka marketing/PR droid, con man, dumb blonde (both male and female), karen, etc.

      2. Andy 73 Silver badge

        Re: Funny

        Believe it or not, if you sell a product online, you sometimes have to let customers know you exist.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: Funny

          I've seen Twitter's pitch, pricing and metrics: using it for promotion rarely made sense, which is why it was always going to make a profit next year…

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Funny

          So you put up your own site.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The race is on!

    Millions of unimportant drones scrambling to spaff as much of their PI all over the Internet as possible.

    Give ‘till it hurts, make a few people very wealthy!

    You, you there, what’s your name, address and inside leg measurement?

    Quick!

  8. Captain Hogwash Silver badge

    Re: personal details aren't that precious

    Until aggregated in databases and demanded by governments intent on silencing opposition.

  9. Ashto5

    Threads crap name

    It would be better named

    FUNGUS

    That sort of describes all of these channels perfectly

    1. Plest Silver badge

      THREADS is the perfect name...

      Reminds me of the horrifying anit-nuclear war film made in the 1980s about a bomb being dropped on Sheffield, nuclear devastation and ultimate failure of humanity.

      This new thing will explode, cause everyone to suffer be utterly pointless in the end leaving nothing but horrednous mess!

    2. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Threads crap name

      The fungus amongus.

  10. sarusa Silver badge
    Devil

    Choose your Satan

    Zuck has been actively evil even longer than Elmo. Are you really going to trade in Trump for Hitler just because Trump hasn't been doing enough to kill non-white people lately?

    Okay, bad analogy because MAGA voters are fine with both Trump and Hitler ('he had some very important ideas!'), but I'm not going for either.

    1. Mockup1974

      Re: Choose your Satan

      Everyone I don't like is Trump or Hitler.

    2. Khaptain Silver badge

      Re: Choose your Satan

      "Okay, bad analogy because MAGA voters are fine with both Trump and Hitler"

      Both of my grandfathers, like so many US, UK and other soldiers, fought against Hitler's armies, I am glad they did because both you and I are here living peaceful lives. Neither you nor me has to fight against Trump. What did Trump do that made your life so bad ? Please provide actual facts and not ideological splutterings..

      I don't defend Trump, I can't stand the man, but this leftist nonsense is pathetic. You really need to have a look back in history before you start comparing anyone to Hitler.. It truly us pathetic to see that kind of unjustified remark.

  11. Dronius

    The vacuum of vacuousness just got even sucking bigger

    Because the chirpers needed a bigger vacuum nozzle thrust into those meaningful and wholesome lives.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      If they had meaningful and wholesome lives, they wouldn't need to be on social media.

  12. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge
    Mushroom

    What's in a name?

    For me - and, I expect, fellow Brits of a similar age - the name Threads immediately conjures up memories of that nightmarish made-for-TV move about a nuclear war.

    (for any left-pondians who may not be familiar with this reference...around the same time your country released a move called The Day After - basically Threads made that look like Noddy Goes To Toyland)

    1. Roj Blake Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      If anyone ever convinces me to join this Threads thing, my avatar will be the traffic warden with the bandaged face.

      1. Antony Shepherd

        Re: What's in a name?

        The bandaged traffic warden with a gun and the woman who pisses herself are going to be the two most popular avatars among UK users of a certain age.

    2. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      the name Threads immediately conjures up

      I came here to say exactly the same thing.

      BBC Homepage

      Wikipedia Article

      BBC Culture retrospective

      Zuck's marketing department didn't see that one coming. Or perhaps we're just old codgers who were too young and impressionable in the early 1980s and no-one else cares.

      M.

    3. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      the name Threads immediately conjures up memories of that nightmarish made-for-TV move about a nuclear war.

      The funniest tweet I've seen about Zuck's new offering was along the lines of "for a preview of the service, Google for 'threads Sheffield' and watch the video"

    4. Howard Sway Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      Yes, it's a horrific film, depicting the effects of a nuclear explosion on Sheffield that had a yield approximately about the tenth of the size of the explosion of Musk's ego fury when he saw that the guy who's been distracting him with some childish trolling about cage fights had announced the launch of a slick, free, unlimited rival service to the thing he blew tens of billions on and has been turning into a bit of a bomb site himself by sacking most of the staff, trying to extort money from its users and limiting access in various ways.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What's in a name?

        It's always nice to see the downvotes on comments like this. It reminds me that somewhere out there is a Musk fanboy crying in his beer because his idol got dissed.

    5. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      the name Threads immediately conjures up memories of that nightmarish made-for-TV

      For me it provokes images of fungal space-bourne spores that decimated all life around them as the died, pulled from the Red Planet and falling on Pern, defended by gentically-engineered teleporting dragons and their riders.

      (Anne McCaffery's Pern series - well worth reading. Some of the last ones were less consistent though)

    6. Plest Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: What's in a name?

      I bought the DVD release about 2 years ago, hadn't seen it since I was a teen in the 1980s. Let me say it's just as brutal and horrifying as I remember it. Yeah the fashions haven't stood up too well but my god the acting and the story are just as brutal as they ever were!

    7. TheMaskedMan Silver badge

      Re: What's in a name?

      "Noddy Goes To Toyland"

      Do left pondians know about Noddy? And hasn't he been cancelled yet? If not, it's only a matter of time

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: What's in a name?

        Only certain books/tv episodes have been "cancelled" The reboot versions are sanitised.

    8. Fifth Horseman

      Re: What's in a name?

      Our O-level English teacher made us watch that film in class. It literally did give me fucking nightmares for months. For those here not old enough to remember, it came out at a time when the Cold War was going through a potentially "hot" phase in the wake of tensions caused by the Able Archer 83 exercises and various other things. Nuclear war felt like a very likely prospect at that time.

  13. Knightlie

    > Financial information is also accessible, as are health and fitness data, messages, photos and videos, and even voice or sound recordings.

    > Also up for grabs are files and documents, calendar events, contacts, the app's behavior, web browsing history, and device IDs.

    Wow.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Right. Wow. Just like Google and Microsoft.

  14. anonanonanonanonanon

    Instagram is terrible

    I'm not a huge user of twitter, but I find Instagram is now pretty much useless, I see like, what, 10 posts from friends, the rest is all sponsored content. If I don't check it for a while, I can scroll a few times then it tells me I'm all caught up, social media my ass

    1. thondwe

      Re: Instagram is terrible

      Both Instagram and Facebook have appalling UIs. Fully expect Threads to be similarly convoluted.

      BUT, would love to see sufficient migration from twitter to threads to give Elon an almighty financial black eye for ruining Twitter (as was best of bad bunch?)

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Instagram is terrible

      "the rest is all sponsored content."

      All "social media" is like that nowadays. It's a "feature" to "help you connect with people with similar interests", AKA, they make more money by selling more blipadverts.

      Most won't even let you choose an option to see posts in date order any more, instead ordering them by order of importance. Their "order of importance", not yours.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's the visual equivalent of onomatopoeia

    Am I the only one that sees that logo as an invitation to tie oneself into knots.

    But that matches my opinion on these tools quite well.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: What's the visual equivalent of onomatopoeia

      Am I the only one that sees that logo as an invitation to tie oneself into knots.

      That'll attract the bondage crowd.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's the visual equivalent of onomatopoeia

      My first thought was a pube on the shower floor but maybe that's just me.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What's the visual equivalent of onomatopoeia

        >but maybe that's just me

        Yes.

  16. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge

    Dodo

    "leaving Musk with a bird in the hand and very little in the bush other than the massive debt he incurred to acquire the avian network"

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Coffee/keyboard

    Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

    Come off it, where's the unbiased reportage. Ever since Musk bought Twitter the media have done nothing but trash him. Some people are angry he took away their toy.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

      Truth is biased. Towards reality, away from hype.

    2. Howard Sway Silver badge

      Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

      Oh, poor little Saint Elon, never said an unkind word about anybody else in his whole life, how dare the nasty media pick on him like this......

      Maybe the media are smart enough to realise that this will reduce twitter to nothing more than a site for this sort of fanboi nonsense until it dies. But if not, it's still massively, hilariously funny.

      1. Zolko Silver badge

        Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

        the nasty media ... the media

        so you acknowledge that there is such thing as "the media", which is what Musk has been saying all along. Funny own-goal.

        There shouldn't be a unified "media" coverage in a democratic society, there should be plurality in opinions. Unfortunately, from the Twitter Files, we know now that "the media" is actually the propaganda arm of the US government. It is thus understandable that those in power are mad at Musk for having broken the glass ceiling. What good that will do to his wealth is another story.

        And I don't even use any social media, ElReg is my maximum socialite activity

        1. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
          Holmes

          Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

          >>ElReg is my maximum socialite activity

          Yes, it shows...

        2. martinusher Silver badge

          Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

          There is a very curious vortex of rage that strikes some things like "Twitter" or "Elon Musk". I'm not sure what stokes it, it may just be an eddy in the continuum of human thought, but it may be provoked for some obscure political purpose. For example, the word "Tesla" tends to evoke all sorts of negativity, even attacks on the cars (BTW -- I don't own one). To read the media you'd think that these unsafe contraptions are forever bursting into flames & mowing down innocent pedestrians assuming you can find one that's been put together well enough to work. The reality is that they're selling a whole bunch of cars and the (getting to be quite numerous) owners seem to have the attitude that you can have their Tesla "when you pry it from their cold, dead, fingers". In other words, there's a reality gap between loudly expressed opinion and observation, at least in my world.

          Expressing even a mild "Hey, wait a minute" immediately attracts a bazillion downvotes. You've got to run with the herd and since its been decided that "Twitter Bad" then you cannot deviate an iota from this line -- or else. Although I'm not a Twitter user I do appreciate what Musk is trying to do; in a sense he's trying to introduce some grown up behavior into the platform (I'd have said "adult" but you know what would have happened -- har, har....). He might even be asking those who use the platform to make money to pay money to keep the platform going -- Shock! Horror!!. I don't know and don't care particularly; but I do care about the rather puerile mindset of the mob. Its like someone's threatening to deprive them of their spray paint cans so limiting their free expression....

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

            "To read the media you'd think that these unsafe contraptions are forever bursting into flames & mowing down innocent pedestrians assuming you can find one that's been put together well enough to work."

            Primarily, that seems to be the El Reg style of reporting. When I see Tesla mentioned on the more generic news channels, it usually either relates to expansion, new plants, China, new models announced etc, or, sometimes, when idiots think AutoPilot mean self-driving and do stupid things. That's more of a tech angle on something than Tesla itself, although the impression is that other "driver assisted" vehicle are less likely have people treating them as self-driving and falling asleep, playing games, jumping into the passenger seat etc Maybe the general impression you get is more coloured by where you get your news than any general trend across "the media" :-)

        3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

          "There shouldn't be a unified "media" coverage in a democratic society, there should be plurality in opinions."

          "The media" is, by definition a plural and includes both "traditional" and "new" media, where, in this case "media" is publishing outfits oriented towards news and discourse. Sadly, for some people, that is not obvious because there is no such word as "medias" so we can't say "the medias" when referring to multiple entities, which does make it difficult for some people to understand. As for Musk, as owner of Twitter, he's now a "media baron", one of the many "media" he rails against. He''s joined them, no matter what he may claim about "shaking up" Twitter or "the media" he's now part of it.

          Oh, and just for clarity, some people like to use the term MSM or Mainstream media. Well, I think Twitter has been around long enough and is in peoples lives enough that it fully qualifies as part of the "MSM" these days and so adds to the plurality you want :-)

          Anyone remember when "alternative comedians" were all the "rage" back in the 80's? The TV interviews they did, trying to be ever more outrageous? Ever seen the likes of Ben Elton in more recent interviews? They grew up and became part of "the establishment", albeit a little changed due to their influence, but not majorly so.

    3. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

      Come off it, where's the unbiased reportage

      I've terrible news for you - Elon will *not* be giving you a pony, no matter what he says..

      1. J.G.Harston Silver badge

        Re: Elon Musk's chaotic leadership of the microblogging service?

        I want an owl!

  18. Mayday
    Meh

    Awesome

    Some other shit service I don’t need to and won’t sign up to.

  19. Bebu
    Childcatcher

    Looking at the logo

    Does anyone else think the Threads logo look like the large intestine with a bit of illeum?

    Thst being full of "it", its perhaps a case of exchanging a twitter for a shitter.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Looking at the logo

      a bit of illeum

      Didn't that have topless towers?

    2. Gort99
      Thumb Down

      Re: Looking at the logo

      I thought that was the whole marketing campaign. "Threads. Like Twitter but shitter".

  20. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Follow, follow, follow

    Difficult to think why Facebook is doing this execpt that Zuckerberg is desperate not to miss out. The opportunity presented by Twitter's collapse has already passed with services like Mastodon and platform's like Telegram offering more for less. In the meantime, TikTok is eating Facebook's lunch and already launching additional platforms lilke Lemon8.

    1. Howard Sway Silver badge

      Re: Follow, follow, follow

      All social media sites die eventually as a new fashoinable thing comes along and the crowd moves on there instead. This is just a repeat of what happened when Murdoch paid billions for MySpace just before everybody left for FriendFace.

  21. APro

    So what's it called?

    I told my 15yr old that Zuck was working on a Twitter alternative. After she shook her head and sighed, she asked,

    "So what's he calling it? Twatter?!!!

    She's not a fan of social media - "Full of idiots and advertising" she says.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: So what's it called?

      Smart girl.

  22. Tubz Silver badge

    app goes after plenty, including location, personal information that may include "Name, Email address, User IDs, Address, Phone number, Political or religious beliefs, Sexual orientation and Other info."

    Financial information is also accessible, as are health and fitness data, messages, photos and videos, and even voice or sound recordings.

    Also up for grabs are files and documents, calendar events, contacts, the app's behavior, web browsing history, and device IDs.

    Far too much information for my liking, so no thanks, same for all the social media platforms.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Seems these social apps are now attempting to copy Twitter in the same way all the dating apps brazenly copied Tinder.

    Even Match.com presents you by default with a Tinder-esque swiping mission, unless you break out to do a custom search.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      True. The reality is that there a very few truly creative people. There are, on the other hand, many, many people who went to art college or design school who are at best mediocre and are only truly "good" at copying the work of others, with a few tweaks[*] insisted on by lawyers so as not to get sued :-)

      [*] or "focus-grouped" to set just the correct shade of mauve, or use the typeface that has the ever so subtle kerning to give that perfect je ne sais quoi :-)

  24. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    Now we find out if there is any residual value in Twitter. Is there something unique about the atmosphere of Twitter that can't be transplanted to a well-funded clone?

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Inertia.

      Some years ago, Twitter might have disappeared without trace at this stage of it's death throws, back in the days when there more more competing social media platforms which often were more "local" and the likes of MySpace could whither on the vine. But when you have many, many millions of users, possibly billions, any social media operation will limp on for years simply because the users have so many friends and family, celebs etc to "follow". Plus, of course, all the officialdom, politicians, companies etc because they know they can reach million of people through it. Most will hedge their bets and, as they are already doing, have a presence on any and all social media they think it's worthwhile using. Unless Twitter goes bankrupt and/or Musk loses interest, Twitter will either rise from the ashes or spend years in a lingering death.

  25. Dr_N
    Mushroom

    "Threads"

    Just conjures images of a UK nuclear apocalypse.

    [Edit: I see others already noted this.]

  26. johnnyblaze

    If Zuck has touched it, avoid like the plague, which is my life moto.

  27. Groo The Wanderer

    Personally I've never gotten Twitter's "popularity"; it seems an asinine way to try to communicate unless your only interest is broadcasting your feeble little thoughts. Without replies and subconversations and subthreads of interesting tangents, what is the point of babbling something like "Drumpf farted?"

    Yet here are all these companies trying to clone a failing company.

    Mind boggling, but not surprising from someone who thinks the world will pony up for 3D goggles that they've hated for the past 10-15 years just to look at 3D cat videos on the internet. *LOL*

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      "Personally I've never gotten Twitter's "popularity";"

      Oh, that's an easy one. Just look at how Twitter started. It was "social media" for those new-fangled SMS text messages that anyone with a mobile phone could access, long before feature phones or smart phones came along. Most people seem to have forgotten this part of Twitters history and the reason for the limited length of messages + overhead, ie SMS is limited to 160 characters (7-bit limit) + overhead to fit into "spare" space in the GSM protocols. Twitter further limited messages to 140 characters, using the remaining 20 for their own overhead to identify the sender/user etc. Normal SMS is a one-to-one medium. IIRC there were extensions to send to small groups, but Twitter made it so you could send an SMS to many people in disparate and arbitrary "groups". It was actually quite groundbreaking at the time.

      And don't forget, mobile phones didn't do email then either and typing text on number keypad with multiple presses for most letters was time consuming at best, a pain in the arse at worst. :-)

  28. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    Why do I need another app to access another internet service? I've already got an application to access internet services, it's called Firefox.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Bro, BRO! Do you even app?! ALL the cool kids are doing it!!

      /s just in case needed because such is the world we now live in.

  29. Matthew "The Worst Writer on the Internet" Saroff

    I Think that Facebook Misses the Point

    Most users in the the criminal enterprise formerly known as Facebook™ loath the company. They use it because they see no other alternative because it is how they contact their friends, or run their business, etc.

    The idea that people would lock themselves in, when the criminal enterprise formerly known as Facebook™ has shown time and time again that it would engage in major enshittification as soon as it reaches critical mass, is delusional.

  30. Blackjack Silver badge

    [Name, Email address, User IDs, Address, Phone number, Political or religious beliefs, Sexual orientation and Other info.]

    Wow, just wow, self fishing fish uh?

  31. Phil Kingston

    IRC FTW

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The trick to all this social media malarkey

    Don’t have any friends.

    It works for me.

  33. Ken Y-N
    Big Brother

    Looks fine to me

    A few of my Instagram friends are already there, and it looks quite nice, although other than the text being above the picture instead of the other way round there seems little difference. I never got Twitter (at least now the Muskrat is clear about the Nazi hell-hole he is making it into) so let's see what happens with Threads.

    Apologies for posting something positive; Zuck already knows all about me, sadly, so he's not going to be getting much additional info from me liking even more cat pics.

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