Clone wars: Meta’s Threads takes on Twitter

<p>If there is one thing Facebook’s parent company does well, it is aping other social-media features and platforms—and it is a <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2023/07/04/the-musk-zuckerberg-social-media-smackdown?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">propitious time</a> to steal Twitter’s thunder. Deeply indebted Arab countries desperately need loans from the IMF, but have <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/06/27/after-years-of-talks-indebted-arab-states-and-the-imf-are-at-an-impasse?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">good reasons</a> to balk at the fund’s terms (10:00). And New Yorkers love their <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/06/15/attack-of-the-feral-parakeets?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">invasive parakeets</a>; the birds’ enormous nests, less so (18:41).</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to <a href="https://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>