I really don't understand why everybody here on Mastodon seems to focus on the privacy aspect. Well, of course I do, were on Mastodon after all.
But time and time again, it has become clear that users choose convenience and user-friendliness over trivial things like privacy.
Mastodon has a few weaknesses (well, the underlying protocol) that makes it harder to use. Of course, this "weakness" depends on how you look at it, but Mastodon is absolutely not user-friendly. It does not offer the advantages of a centralized network.
If Threads at least offers the same stuff as Twitter and makes a good first impression, it has a good chance of being successful. Especially now, with Musk rendering Twitter useless.
The only way of getting rid of this behavior by social media giants is to have regulations that value user pricacy, like in the EU.
Threads will not be available in the EU thanks to GDPR and privacy rules. More info (random source): https://m.independent.ie/business/technology/no-instagram-threads-app-in-the-eu-irish-dpc-says-metas-new-twitter-rival-wont-be-launched-here/a1927220337.html.
Thankful to be an EU netizen.
Volker Weber
Yavuz Selim