A new social media app is the latest to challenge Twitter. Threads launched Wednesday night from Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta. Anne Ward, growth scientist and CEO of Circle Click Media has more on the app.

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A new social media app is the latest to challenge Twitter.

Threads launched last night from Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta.

Ann Ward, growth scientist and CEO of CircleClick Media is joining us live to talk all about it.

All right, Ann, we've already seen 10 million downloads of this in just 7 hours.

So clearly people want an alternative to Twitter, but a lot of people are saying it's a copycat of Twitter.

Well, it's nothing new in technology to copy.

I think people are just relieved to have a Twitter-like place that feels a little safer.

It doesn't have hashtags yet, it doesn't have you know gifs, it doesn't have a few of the bells and whistles, but overall it feels like old-school Twitter, which a lot of my friends are really liking and I myself am liking.

I definitely spent a few hours on it last night, I have to admit.

Okay, so what do you think people will be using this for?

I've already seen a number of national brands, media, influencers.

I think people are going to use it as they use Twitter as a place for open discourse.

I think that's what we've all been missing and looking for.

People have been looking for Twitter replacements ever since I'd say the end of last year.

There have been some platforms that have come and gone like Google Plus for example is 1 that comes to mind right?

It seems like because it's paired with Instagram that maybe it has a little more like staying power.

Absolutely I think that this early success is a good sign.

It will depend eventually how to monetize.

If they're able to gain ad revenue from this, I think it's looking good at this point, but you never know, nothing is forever in technology.

Because we've even heard about them gathering information on somebody's health.

Is that running in the background of all types of social media?

Is this set aside in any different from the other privacy concerns you might have?

Twitter was mired in privacy lawsuits as well.

They have been the most slapped for it legally and have the most lawsuits.

For example, they're not actually able to launch yet in Europe because they don't comply with European privacy laws.

So I think that you know that's a valid concern but it's true for almost all social media.

I would say pretty much all unless it's private.

Do you know and I was trying to think about this if you download threads and then you decide you don't want it and you delete it will that delete your Instagram account too since they're linked now?

I don't believe so since they're separate apps.

Now what about how people are feeling about it?

Are you are you seeing people either through threads or just through chats or either through other social media what people are thinking of threads so far?

Yes so there's no DMs on threads yet which has kind of made it interesting.

Everything everyone's talking about on threads is visible publicly as assuming they don't make it a private mess or a limited post to their audience.

But I would say so far it's been positive.

I've seen a lot of people who abandon Twitter.

My friends and colleagues that you know haven't been on Twitter in months sort of surfaced and it sort of felt like a little bit of a reunion, which I liked.

It really was seamless and so I think that that makes it a dangerous competitor for sure.

All right, well it sounds like we need to get on board.


Speaker 0: A new social media app is the latest to challenge Twitter.

Speaker 1: Threads launched last night from Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta. Ann Ward, growth scientist and CEO of CircleClick Media is joining us live to talk all about it. All right, Ann, we've already seen 10 million downloads of this in just 7 hours. So clearly people want an alternative to Twitter, but a lot of people are saying it's a copycat of Twitter. So how, how is it different?

How is it the same?

Speaker 2: Well, it's nothing new in technology to copy. I think people are just relieved to have a Twitter-like place that feels a little safer. It doesn't have hashtags yet, it doesn't have you know gifs, it doesn't have a few of the bells and whistles, but overall it feels like old-school Twitter, which a lot of my friends are really liking and I myself am liking. I definitely spent a few hours on it last night, I have to admit.

Speaker 0: Okay, so what do you think people will be using this for? Is it more for fun? Is it for networking? Where do you see this going?

Speaker 2: Well, absolutely. Brands are already there. I've already seen a number of national brands, media, influencers. I think people are going to use it as they use Twitter as a place for open discourse. I think that's what we've all been missing and looking for.

People have been looking for Twitter replacements ever since I'd say the end of last year.

Speaker 1: There have been some platforms that have come and gone like Google Plus for example is 1 that comes to mind right? So Is Threads here to stay? It seems like because it's paired with Instagram that maybe it has a little more like staying power.

Speaker 2: Absolutely I think that this early success is a good sign. I mean nothing is forever. It will depend eventually how to monetize. If they're able to gain ad revenue from this, I think it's looking good at this point, but you never know, nothing is forever in technology.

Speaker 0: Now, what about privacy concerns? Because we've even heard about them gathering information on somebody's health. Is that running in the background of all types of social media? Is this set aside in any different from the other privacy concerns you might have?

Speaker 2: Absolutely. This is nothing unique. This concern existed even on Twitter. Twitter was selling data. Twitter was mired in privacy lawsuits as well.

It's not a unique thing to Facebook. They have been the most slapped for it legally and have the most lawsuits. For example, they're not actually able to launch yet in Europe because they don't comply with European privacy laws. So I think that you know that's a valid concern but it's true for almost all social media. I would say pretty much all unless it's private.

Speaker 1: Do you know and I was trying to think about this if you download threads and then you decide you don't want it and you delete it will that delete your Instagram account too since they're linked now?

Speaker 2: I don't believe so since they're separate apps.

Speaker 0: Okay well that's good to know. Now what about how people are feeling about it? Are you are you seeing people either through threads or just through chats or either through other social media what people are thinking of threads so far?

Speaker 2: Yes so there's no DMs on threads yet which has kind of made it interesting. Everything everyone's talking about on threads is visible publicly as assuming they don't make it a private mess or a limited post to their audience. But I would say so far it's been positive. I've seen a lot of people who abandon Twitter. My friends and colleagues that you know haven't been on Twitter in months sort of surfaced and it sort of felt like a little bit of a reunion, which I liked.

It was very easy to sign up. I didn't even have to add an icon. It had all my information there for me. It really was seamless and so I think that that makes it a dangerous competitor for sure.

Speaker 1: All right, well it sounds like we need to get on board.

Speaker 0: Yeah, yes.

Speaker 2: All right, Ann Ward, Circle Click Media.

Speaker 1: Always good to talk with you.

Speaker 2: Thank you so much.

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What is 'Threads? Meta's new social media app