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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Margaret Sullivan

I signed up for Threads against my better judgment

Meta launches new text-based app Threads<br>epa10730447 An illustration picture shows a person handling a mobile phone displaying the login page of social media app 'Threads' in Los Angeles, California, USA, 06 July 2023. Meta unveiled its new app 'Threads' on 05 July 2023. The new messaging app launched by Mark Zuckerberg works as a companion for Instagram and is a direct competitor to Elon Musk's Twitter. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT
‘I’m not especially hopeful about Threads. But for better or worse, I’m there for whatever happens.’ Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

I signed up for Threads the other day, somewhat against my better judgment. After all, Threads doesn’t have the best blood lines; nothing in its lineage suggests that it will be the secretariat of social media good behavior or ethics.

It is the spawn of Meta, which we still might know as Facebook if Mark Zuckerberg and his brain trust hadn’t decided to rename their behemoth after its many reputation-damaging misdeeds. Those include allowing users’ data to leak out, as well as distributing untold amounts of hate and lies and ultimately, giving Donald Trump an invaluable helping hand in his disastrous 2016 election by spreading Russian disinformation. (Recall, too, the scandal surrounding Facebook’s relationship with the political data firm Cambridge Analytica.)

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