MARK Zuckerberg’s Threads app has officially launched and the Meta boss says that 2million people joined in the first two hours after it went live.
The Threads app has been referred to as “Twitter Killer” as it’s a direct competitor with Elon Musk’s social media platform.
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“Let’s do this,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his first post on the platform.
“Welcome to Threads,” the entrepreneur added, with a fire emoji.
“Threads just passed 2million sign-ups in the first two hours,” Zuckerberg said in an update on Wednesday night.
Just hours later, the Facebook founder was claiming that more than 5million users had already signed up.
The platform is currently available in the Apple and Android app stores in more than 100 countries, the Associated Press reported.
An official announcement was posted to Instagram’s Twitter account.
“Threads is here – a new app where you can share updates and join convos,” the message says.
“Use your Instagram account to log in and get started.”
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Zuckerberg added in a string of posts on the platform: “Glad you’re all here on day one. Let’s build something great together!
“The vision for Threads is to create an open and friendly public space for conversation. We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind.”
HOW IT WORKS
Since Threads is tethered to Instagram, new users won’t have to start a separate account to access the platform.
But those who don’t already have an Instagram account will have to start one to join Threads.
The platform has been described as a fusion of Twitter’s dashboard and Instagram’s comment section.
Posts are limited to 500 characters, more than Twitter’s 280, and can include links, photos, and videos as long as five minutes.
Individual threads show up in the app’s main feed, where they can be liked, re-posted, and replied to, Social Media Today reported.
The launch was initially scheduled for later this month but was recently moved up.
It came as many Twitter users have complained about Musk’s leadership and the frequent changes he has made to the platform after purchasing it last year.
THREADS USERS DIVIDED
Many of the first Threads users have shared their reviews of the app.
“I like the new app interface,” one person said on Twitter.
“Twitter might finally be done lol,” said another user.
Others shared their criticisms about some of the features of the new app.
New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed the app had broken for her mid-post.
“I was on Threads for five minutes but now I think my app is bricked,” she tweeted. “It was just as I hit send on a long post of Queens food recommendations.”
Another early adopter said they had already canceled their Threads account, but in the process had to close their Instagram account as well.
Emily Hughes tweeted: “I deactivated my Threads account already but it turns out you can’t delete your Threads account without also deleting your Instagram account so maybe just don’t sign up!”
Others complained that the new site was lacking basic elements which had been present on Twitter for years.
“It’s just like Twitter but no trending topics. 17 years after Twitter,” one user said.
“The application is missing many things, very simple, and does not work well,” said another.
“Can’t search for posts and can’t see posts in chronological order. Good potential but still not the Twitter alternative we need,” one user said.
“Looks great so far but why is there no feed that allows me only to see people I follow?” another asked.
“I don’t want a load of random Thread suggestions, I want to see stuff from people I follow only, like on Twitter.”
Threads has been launched as rumors continue to swirl about a possible cage fight between Zuckerberg and Musk, though no official date or location has been set.
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