Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s latest microblogging platform Threads has taken the internet by storm with over 100 million sign-ups in a matter of a few days. Designed and developed by the Instagram team, Threads has a distinctive yet familiar user interface that resembles Twitter.
Touted as the Twitter alternative, Threads has many features similar to Elon Musk’s latest acquisition. However, being a brand-new platform, it does miss out on several key aspects when compared to its rival Twitter, perhaps the most popular microblogging platform in the world.
Here are ten things you can do on Elon Musk’s Twitter but not on Meta’s Threads.
- 01
No hashtags
Hashtag is how a trending topic on Twitter and Threads is currently missing this most peculiar microblogging feature. However, Meta’s other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have had hashtag support for many years, and Threads is likely to get the same in the coming days.
- 02
No web version
Twitter can be accessed on any web browser. However, Threads is currently limited to an app-only experience. While there is an official website, Threads.net, it just redirects users to download the Android or iOS version of Threads.
- 03
Can’t edit posts
Twitter recently added an option to edit Tweets for its premium users. Right now, Meta does not allow Threads users to edit a post once published. A user either has to delete or create a new post on the Threads app. Given this feature has been available on Instagram and Facebook for a while, Threads might get this feature in the coming days.
- 04
No DM option
Threads does not allow its users to directly message on its platform and it even enabled end-to-end encryption recently for added privacy. This means users won’t be able to privately connect with each other.
- 05
AI generated alt text
Alt text or alternative text is a description of an image or a video. Most social media platforms allow users to customize the alt text, and Threads does not. Instead, it currently uses computer-generated alternative text, making it less accessible for users who depend on screen readers.
- 06
No trending topics
Trending topics is one of the easiest ways to spot happening news on Twitter, and Threads does not have a threading topic section, at least as of now. In an interaction with The Verge, Instagram CEO said Threads is not for “Hard News”, so, it might not get a trending topic section anytime soon.
- 07
No ads
While this can be a good thing, Threads does not show ads while Twitter is currently being bombarded with ads. Mark Zuckerberg has even hinted that Threads might not get ads unless they get a significant number of (1 billion) users.
- 08
Can’t embed Threds post
Spotted something useful on Threads and want to embed it in your blog? You can’t do that. As of now, there is no provision to create an embedded post link on Threads. Twitter has been allowing users to create embedded post links for a long time.
- 09
No following feed
Unlike Twitter, which has a “For you” and “Following” feed, Threads only has a single feed, which will have trending posts and posts from followers. As of now, there is no option on Threads to read posts only from the people you follow.
- 10
No. chronological feed
Twitter has an option, where, users can enable chronological feeds although it’s not enabled by default. Right now, Threads has a randomly generated feed.