A deliberate move? Meta's Threads app has an option to share post directly on Twitter!

In a bold move which underlines its rivalry with Twitter, the Meta-owned Threads app shows a "Tweet" share option when a user attempts to share their post on Threads. Ideally, the share button in an app, only displays direct share features with social media platforms directly connected with the application while the other external apps come under the "Share via..." option.

In this case, the Threads app stems through Meta's Instagram platform. Visuals show that the user gets the options of "Add to story" and "Post to feed" which will take the user to their Instagram account. But a third option shows "Tweet", which will send the user to their Twitter account where they can tweet their Threads post, hence working as a marketing tool for Threads. 

Image: Screenshot of the pop-up that appears when a user s on the share option below their post on Threads | Republic

The remaining two options are "Copy link" which copies the link to the post and can be shared anywhere, and the "Share via..." option that enables the user to share their post on Threads to external platforms like WhatsApp, Pinterest etc. This option would have been the place to display an external platform like Twitter but instead there is an exclusive sharing option for tweeting your Threads post.

Threads vs Twitter

Touted as the 'Twitter killer' application, Threads  has caused a storm on the internet with the eye of the tempest being particularly felt at Twitter headquarters where owner Elon Musk and co-founder Jack Dorsey have been attempting to 'expose' the purported privacy concerns related to Threads while accusing Meta of poaching its former employees to create a "copycat" paltform.

The online fued between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk which may even end up in a real-life cage fight, saw Zuckerberg posting after more than ten years on Twitter on the day of the Threads launch, sharing a meme featuring the iconic two Spider-Man face-off.

Image: Screenshot of tweet by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

Sparking data privacy concerns, the Threads app's data privacy disclosure on the App Store says that the app has the potential to collect various forms of personal information, including health data, financial information, contact details, browsing and search history, location data, purchase details, and what is described as "sensitive info." These privacy concerns have raised questions regarding the extent and usage of the data collected by the app.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey pointed it out in a tweet on Tuesday: “All your Threads are belong to us” that included a screenshot of the disclosure. Musk replied “yeah.”

Threads, which Meta claims offers a distinct space for real-time updates and public discussions, arrives at a time when many individuals are seeking alternatives to Twitter to avoid Elon Musk's boisterous influence since his acquisition of the platform for $44 billion last year.  

Twitter sends a letter to Zuckerberg, threatens to sue Meta over Threads

Twitter's lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms (Facebook's parent company), threatening to file a lawsuit against Meta over the recently launched Threads platform.

In the letter obtained by Semafor, Spiro accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of engaging in “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”

“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Spiro wrote in the letter.

“Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.”

Spiro also alleged that Meta assigned ex-Twitter employees to develop “Meta’s copycat ‘Threads’ app with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property in order to accelerate the development of Meta’s competing app, in violation of both state and federal law as well as those employees’ ongoing obligations to Twitter.”

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has also not publicly commented on Wednesday's letter, seemingly appeared to address Threads' launch in a Thursday tweet. “We’re often imitated -- but the Twitter community can never be duplicated,” Yaccarino wrote.

Highlighting the letter, Elon Musk replied to a tweet, saying: "Competition is fine, cheating is not."

The application, described as the text-based counterpart of Meta's photo-sharing platform Instagram, was made available to users in over 100 countries on Wednesday evening.

These countries include the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, and India. Despite experiencing a few initial glitches, Threads attracted 30 million sign-ups by Thursday noon, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's statement on the app.