Social media giant Meta has unveiled its new microblogging platform called ‘Threads,’ which is being seen as a direct rival to Elon Musk-owned Twitter. Within hours of its launch, Threads attracted millions of users, taking advantage of Twitter’s recent struggles. Prominent figures such as Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among the early adopters of the platform, as reported by Reuters.
In his inaugural post on Threads, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote, “Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” along with a fire emoji. He also revealed that the app had garnered 10 million sign-ups in just seven hours. Taking a playful dig at the rivalry between Meta and Musk’s platforms, Zuckerberg shared a well-known Spiderman meme on Twitter, depicting the two services facing off.
Analysts believe that Threads’ integration with Instagram could give it an advantage by leveraging its existing user base and advertising capabilities. This could potentially divert ad revenue from Twitter at a time when the new CEO of Twitter is attempting to revive the struggling platform.
Although Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, making it an easy addition to the existing habits of Instagram’s two billion monthly active users.
For many, the launch of Threads represents an opportunity to create a less toxic version of Twitter. Ocasio-Cortez expressed her hopes for the platform, stating in her post, “May this platform have good vibes, strong community, excellent humor, and less harassment.”
Similar to Twitter, Threads allows users to create short text posts that can be liked, reposted, and replied to. However, it does not include direct messaging capabilities. Posts on Threads can be up to 500 characters long and can contain links, photos, and videos of up to five minutes in length, according to a blog post by Meta.
The app is available in over 100 countries through both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.
Ahead of the launch, Meta stock rose by three percent, outperforming rival tech firms.
The arrival of Threads comes after months of public exchanges between Zuckerberg and Musk, including the suggestion of a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.
Twitter has been facing numerous challenges, with Musk acquiring the platform for $44 billion last October. Since then, its value has plummeted due to staffing cuts and controversies surrounding content moderation, resulting in alienation of users and advertisers. Twitter’s latest move involves limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.
Zuckerberg acknowledged the difficulties associated with managing large public social media platforms. He stated, “I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”
The integration of Threads with Instagram includes various privacy considerations. Instagram users who sign up for Threads automatically receive a badge on their Instagram profile but have the option to hide it. Users are also given the choice to customize privacy settings for each app individually.
