More than 10 million people have signed up to Twitter rival Threads in its first few hours, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has claimed.
Threads, a “text-based conversation app”, is linked to Meta-owned Instagram and went live at midnight on Thursday.
Posting on the app under the username Zuck and using a mind-blown emoji, Zuckerberg said: “10 million sign up in seven hours.”
However, based on users posting about their new accounts, there appeared to be more than 11.5 million signups to the app by 8.30 am GMT on Thursday.”
Zuckerberg posted his hopes on app user numbers: “I think there should be a public conversations app with one billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter Competitor Attracts Over 10 Million Users
Chef Gordon Ramsay, pop star Shakira and Mark Hoyle, better known as the YouTuber LadBaby, have already joined and made their presence on the app known.
As Twitter users become more frustrated by changes introduced after Elon Musk’s takeover in October, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO may soon see people flocking to Zuckerberg’s latest project.
In the latest spree of technical problems faced by the micro-blogging site, Musk announced last week that Twitter was temporarily limiting the number of tweets people could read daily.
Many users are unhappy that having a “verified” account has become so monetized, a move that initially saw a slew of impersonator accounts spreading chaos on the site.
To top that off, Twitter has crashed multiple times since Musk stepped in, with many suggesting it could be related to 80% of the site’s 8,000 global staff being fired since the takeover.
Whatever the source of users’ frustration, social media consultant and industry analyst Matt Navarra says they are “desperately looking for an exit from the platform”.
Here, Yahoo News explains how Meta’s Threads app works and the potential threat it poses to Twitter’s supremacy.
The tech giant’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg, said that Meta’s new Twitter rival, Threads, has racked up over five million signups within the first four hours of its launch.
Threads arrives at a challenging time for Elon Musk’s Twitter. The site has faced a range of technical issues in recent days, which it has blamed on AI services scraping its site.
“Threads, an Instagram app”, is already listed on the App Store. According to its App Store listing, it aims to take on the app with a range of features similar to those offered by Twitter.
“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” it reads. “Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
It is the latest in a long line of apps to try and take over from the increasingly troubled Twitter in offering text-based updates.
He pitched the app as a “friendly” rival to Twitter, which Elon Musk bought in October.
Experts say Threads could attract Twitter users unhappy with recent changes to the platform.
Threads allows users to post up to 500 characters and has many features similar to Twitter.
Earlier, Mr Zuckerberg said keeping the platform “friendly… will eventually be the key to its success”.
But Mr Musk responded: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”
When asked on Threads whether the app will be “bigger than Twitter”, Mr Zuckerberg said: “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with one billion+ people on it.
“Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but has yet to nail it. Hopefully, we will.”
Competitors have criticized the amount of data the app might use. According to the Apple App Store, this may include health, financial, and browsing data linked to users’ identities.
The New Talk of the Town with 10 Million User Milestone
Threads are now available to download in over 100 countries, including the UK, but are yet to be in the EU because of regulatory concerns.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, called the new app an “initial version”, with extra features planned, including the ability to interact with people on other social media apps like Mastodon.
“Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text,” the firm said before its launch.
Despite Threads being a standalone app, users log in using an Instagram account. Their Instagram username carries over, but there is an option to customize their profile specifically for Threads.
Users will also be able to choose to follow the duplicate accounts they do on Instagram, Meta says. The app allows users to be private on Instagram but public on Threads.
