Meta Platforms Inc.
What Happened: After promising to launch Threads for the web earlier last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has delivered on it. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the rollout of the web interface to the general public at Threads.net.
Threads on the web initially only allowed users to view posts and media. However, now users can log in with their Threads accounts and like posts, comment on them, and even repost them.
Much Cleaner Than X: At first glance, the Threads interface looks much cleaner than most other social media platforms, including Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter), which it is heavily inspired by.
The homepage has a simple toggle on the bottom to switch between the algorithmic "For you" and "Following" feeds. The top has the home, search, compose, notifications, and profile buttons; the right side is empty. As such, the abundant whitespace lets users focus on the posts.
In contrast, the homepage on X has a lot going on, with the navigation options on the left and trends and follow recommendations on the right. This can be slightly distracting, especially for those who used TweetDeck on the web before it was paywalled.
A similar pattern is visible in how Threads shows individual posts versus how X displays them. The navigation options on Threads are subtle, but that is also likely because hashtags and trends are not a thing yet on Threads.
On the other hand, X looks busy, with navigation options on the left and trends on the right.
More Features Coming Soon: Some of the Threads features, like profile editing or sending posts to Instagram DMs, still need to be made available on the web. The Threads team is aware of it and says that this web interface is still just an early version, so that things will improve.
"This is an early v1. We're painfully aware of the feature gaps and it's going to improve quickly," said Tom Bender, a product manager on the Threads team.
That said, publishers and social media managers can breathe a little easier now that Threads is available online.
