Threads’ user count soon skyrocketed to an astonishing 70 million users, indicating a remarkable level of interest and adoption. Zuckerberg expressed his vision for Threads, stating that it aims to provide a welcoming and vibrant public space for conversations. By leveraging Instagram’s strengths, the platform seeks to create a fresh text-based experience, fostering discussions on various topics and encouraging users to share their thoughts and ideas.

The surge in demand for alternatives to Twitter can be traced back to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022. Since then, Twitter introduced controversial changes that have alienated some of its user base, prompting individuals to explore alternative options. One of the changes that sparked widespread criticism was the introduction of Twitter Blue, a paid subscription option offering a blue checkmark for profiles and early access to new features. Previously, blue checkmarks were granted to notable and verified accounts at no cost. This alteration led to an influx of fake accounts flooding the platform, causing chaos and confusion among users.

In response to the growing problems, Elon Musk announced a temporary cap on the number of tweets users could view, a surprising move that quickly generated attention. The platform also briefly restricted tweet visibility for non-signed-in users before swiftly reversing the decision. Nevertheless, Twitter has an extensive user base surpassing 350 million users and remains in its longstanding position as a preferred platform for sharing ideas, mobilizing social movements, and rapidly disseminating information.

Desmond Patton, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who specializes in Twitter, emphasized the platform’s unique qualities. According to him, Twitter allows individuals without political or monetary power to share stories through various media formats, engage with others locally and globally, and archive their digital history, which he also described as an extraordinary set of capabilities.

Recently, Twitter threatened legal action against Meta, accusing the company of misappropriating Twitter’s trade secrets and hiring former Twitter employees who might possess confidential information. However, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone swiftly dismissed these allegations, asserting that none of the Threads engineering team comprises former Twitter employees.

Despite efforts by platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky to capitalize on the demand for alternatives, they have so far struggled to amass a comparable user base to that of Twitter. Meta’s Threads, with its impressive growth and unique approach, appears poised to provide a compelling alternative to users seeking a fresh and engaging text-based conversation platform.

It looks like the unprecedented amount of new satellites being launched every year causes light pollution that can threaten the night sky view as we know it, especially for professional astronomers. To study and mitigate the damage to astronomy and beyond caused by satellite light pollution, industry representatives and scientists met for SATCON2 in July 2021. Now, astronomers have released their official reports, and their conclusions show a number of alarming issues.

The Satellite Megaconstellations Era Is Just at Its Infancy

The main problem with satellite megaconstellations and the increasing number of satellites in Earth’s orbit is the light pollution they cause and the way this affects amateur and professional night sky observations. The issue became more prevalent when in 2019, a large number of bright, low-flying satellite swarms called megaconstellations started to go up. Today, their numbers account for almost half of all active satellites, with estimates showing that there could be over 100,000 orbiting Earth by the end of this decade.

Satellite Megaconstellations Can Have a Very Negative Effect on Professional Astronomy

Because the satellite megaconstellations comprise massive, large, bright, and reflective satellites, this transforms the night sky fundamentally. The impacts will largely be felt by people who use the night sky as a resource, like professional astronomers. It has already been quite a nuisance for some professional and amateur astrophotographers and astronomers, and it can also affect many other groups of people, including policymakers, satellite operators, environmentalists, geoengineers, and even stargazers. The issue could even affect people with a cultural heritage linked to the night sky. Failed satellites also pose a series of dangers, and currently, there is no way to remove them from orbit en masse.

Although some steps have been made to mitigate the risk, the report states that significant regulation and assistance are needed by the community, or the sky view as it is now could be lost forever. It seems there’s also good news in that acting now can greatly minimize the impacts of the next generation of satellite swarms. According to the scientists, with some measures, the night sky and the environment around the Earth could be preserved for generations to come.