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Meta’s long-awaited Twitter alternative is here, and it’s called Threads. The new social media app launches at a time when alternatives, like Bluesky, Mastodon, and Spill, are vying for users who are dissatisfied with Elon Musk’s handling of Twitter’s user experience, with its newly introduced rate limits and an uptick in hate speech.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, so the company’s attempt to recreate an online experience similar to Twitter is likely to attract plenty of normies, lurkers, and nomadic shitposters. Meta is working to incorporate Threads as part of the online Fediverse, a group of shared servers where users can interact across multiple platforms.
If you’re hesitant to share your personal data with a company on the receiving end of a billion-dollar fine, that’s understandable. For those who are curious, however, here’s what we know about the service’s privacy policy, what data you hand over when you sign up, and how it compares to the data collected by other options.