Talking Tech: Twitter has a new challenger. It's from Instagram
It's Thursday. Judging by the sudden jump in heat and humidity, summer is finally here. It's Brett Molina thankful for air conditioning as I deliver this week's tech headlines.
Hive. Mastodon. Bluesky. Post. All four of these apps have positioned themselves as alternatives to Twitter, virtual life rafts for social media users seeking an escape.
From some Twitter users' perspective, the app now helmed by billionaire Elon Musk is the Titanic, and they want off.
Most recently, Musk had set temporary limits to how many tweets you could read. The change meant users were greeted last weekend with "rate limit exceeded" messages preventing them from seeing new tweets. For an app that depends on users scrolling through countless tweets, that's not good.
Since Musk bought Twitter last year for more than $44 billion, the app has been thrust into chaos.
Now, we have a new challenger: Mark Zuckerberg. While we wait for the cage match that may or may not happen, the Meta CEO is duking it out with Musk on another stage by rolling out a Twitter rival called Threads.
So what is Threads? It's linked to Instagram, but the separate app works very similarly to Twitter. When you open the app, you can log in with your current Instagram account and type away.
Will this app be the one that truly challenges Twitter? Hard to say right now. But if there's any company that can successfully copy apps for their benefit (looking at you, Reels and Stories), it's the parent of Facebook.
What else happened in tech?
A must-read: Japanese researchers develop wearable robotic arms
Notes app to business plan: How one mom grew a multi-million dollar tech company
A victory for GOP: Judge restricts Biden officials from contacting Facebook, tech companies
Thursday tech tip
Yes, it's July. But it's never too early to think about Christmas, especially if you're a parent and want to stay up to date on the hottest toys. And a lot of those toys will be powered by artificial intelligence. Here's how to keep kids safe in case ChatGPT ends up on the holiday wish list.
One more thing
It's National Fried Chicken Day. Lots of deals out there today. Not sure I need to sell any one on fried chicken deals.
Enjoy your Thursday! See you next week.