More than 30million users have already signed up for Mark Zuckerberg‘s ‘Twitter-killer’ app Threads after its overnight launch.
It came as Elon Musk hit out at Meta’s new platform and claimed it spreads ‘false happiness’ like Instagram.
Threads – which is trying to appeal to Twitter users by offering longer posts and accounts linked to their Instagram – went live in the UK at midnight on Thursday. And the platform is the top trending word on Twitter today.
Posting on the app, Zuckerberg said: ‘Wow, 30 million sign-ups as of this morning. Feels like the beginning of something special, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead to build out the app.’
The Twitter-lookalike app, which calls retweets ‘reposts’ and tweets ‘threads’, allows users to post up to 500 characters of text and up to five minutes of video as well as pictures.
Threads has been nicknamed ‘Twitter Killer’ online amid animosity between the rival billionaires who agreed recently to take each other on in a cage fight – with the Colosseum in Rome a potential venue.
It came after their war of words online, with Musk repeatedly urging Twitter users to delete their Facebook accounts, calling the social network ‘lame’.
Chef Gordon Ramsay, pop star Shakira and Mark Hoyle, better known as the YouTuber LadBaby, have already joined Threads and made their presence on the app known. Millions of others had preordered the app after its launch was announced earlier this week.
Mark Zuckerberg has tweeted for the first time in 11 years – sharing a Spiderman image aimed at his rival Elon Musk
Threads is now available to download from both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Millions have already signed up
After downloading the app, users can log in with their Instagram username and password
The new app lets users filter out replies that contain specific words, as well as block other people from mentioning you
Gordon Ramsay, Shakira and Lando Norris have already posted on Threads
Elon Musk responded to the new app by claiming Instagram spreads ‘false happiness’
Musk hit back and tweeted: ‘It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram’.
The new app is the latest move in the rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk, who bought Twitter in October.
Zuckerberg said yesterday: ‘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.’
Follow the Daily Mail on Threads here
READ MORE: Celebs help Threads promo push
F1 driver Lando Norris was among those who got early access to Threads
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Users of the new app will be able to use their Instagram login to get started and, like on the picture-sharing platform, can follow and connect with friends and influencers with similar interests.
In the UK, all users under 18 will be defaulted on to a private profile when they join.
Someone’s feed on the app includes threads from people they follow as well as recommended content from creators they have not yet heard of.
Threads posts can be shared on a user’s Instagram story and as a link on other platforms.
People can control who mentions them and who can reply to them as replies to threads containing specific words can be filtered out and other users can be unfollowed, blocked, restricted and reported.
Any accounts a user has blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on the new app and Instagram’s safety guidelines will be enforced on Threads, Meta said.
Jukka Väänänen, chief executive of the UK newswire Newspage, said: ‘After all of five minutes on Threads, you get the feeling Twitter is done for. It’s text-based but doesn’t really feel it. It’s modern and multi-media, a sans serif to Twitter’s serif font. If you’re on Instagram, getting onto Threads is a doddle. It’s both seamless and slick. Switch quickly between the Threads and Twitter apps on your mobile phone and the latter feels legacy, sepia-tinted.
‘Threads has got an energy that Twitter has long lost. It’s hard to see a way out of this one for Musk, especially given the volume of users on Instagram. For marketers, advertisers and the news media, Threads is another billion piece puzzle to solve. If interoperability and cross-platforming really are the future, now’s the time for everyone to sharpen their teeth.’
Debbie Porter, managing director of Bakewell-based Destination Digital Marketing, said: ‘Mark Zuckerberg really doesn’t like Elon Musk, does he? 10million users in under seven hours is one hell of a launch.
‘In the start-up screen is a mention of the Fediverse, with the promise that the platform’s future iterations will be able to communicate with other social networks. Threads is inviting everyone to party in one big space, agnostic of whether the person they are communicating with is signed up and active on Instagram, Mastodon, Snapchat or, who knows, even Twitter too? Let’s see if it flies. It certainly looks that way so far.’
The new rival to Twitter, Threads, unveiled their app for all to use on Thursday
Zuckerberg is aiming for one billion users to sign up to his new app (Niall Carson/PA)
Twitter boss Musk has repeatedly hit out at Facebook, urging users to delete their accounts (Brian Lawless/PA)
Eventually, the California-based company wants it to be possible for people without a Threads account to interact on the platform, which it hopes will usher in a ‘new era of diverse and interconnected networks’.
If and when this happens, if a user has a public profile their posts will be accessible from other apps. If they have a private one, they will have to approve new followers.
Social media consultant and industry analyst Matt Navarra told the PA news agency the app is the ‘first credible threat’ to Twitter.
He said: ‘I think that Threads is the first real, credible threat to Elon Musk’s Twitter.
‘Users of Twitter are desperately looking for an exit from the platform to escape, and the existing options of rivals are fairly limited.
‘They all have the same big problem, which is you have to start from zero – it’s a network that is completely new.
‘One of the biggest benefits for Meta is that it’s building off the back of Instagram, where people are familiar and can also kick-start their following because it ties into the same social graph.’
He said that while users have an appetite for change, it would be weighed up against mixed public opinions on Meta.
He added: ‘Meta and Instagram comes with baggage, a bad name and bad press. People are very wary and sceptical of anything [Meta owner] Mark Zuckerberg does.’
Mr Zuckerberg could be trying to capitalise on Twitter users being left fuming and threatening to leave after Musk put a limit on how many posts account holders can read a day.
TweetDeck users are also angry after Twitter announced it will become limited to users who have paid for verified status.
The app, which allows users to manage multiple feeds and searches, will only by accessible to verified users in 30 days.
The billionaire SpaceX and Tesla boss has imposed temporary restrictions on Twitter users, citing problems with how many companies and websites are making use of Twitter’s data.
The same restrictions do not apply to accounts who pay for a blue tick, usually held by celebrities, high-profile individuals and companies. They can view 10,000 posts a day compared to 1,000 by non-verified users.
Musk initially limited users to reading just 600 posts a day ‘to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation’ but he later increased the number.
Threads’ launch comes after a period of uncertainty at Twitter since Musk took over in October, with the billionaire restructuring the company, firing thousands and placing many features behind a subscription paywall.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced in mid-March that it was working on a new social network whose description made it a potential competitor to Twitter.
Threads will enable users to ‘connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world,’ according to its app store description.
Meta said: ‘We’re thinking about a decentralised, independent social network for sharing written messages in real time.’
Tech rivals Zuckerberg, who recently competed in a jiu-jitsu competition, and Musk have agreed to a cage fight
Musk challenged Zuckerberg to the fight after making a backhanded comment about Threads
The interaction began after Musk commented about Threads, saying: ‘I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options’
Musk also tweeted that the fight could take place in Rome’s Colosseum
Mr Musk’s latest changes on Twitter to address data scraping have sparked a fierce backlash from Twitter users and ad experts said it would undermine new chief executive Linda Yaccarino, who started in the role last month.
The Italian government has reportedly offered up Rome’s Colosseum as the stage for a showdown between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
The Italian minister of culture has contacted the Meta chief to offer to host the fight between the two billionaires at the historic battleground, according to TMZ.
Both Zuckerberg and Musk are said to be keen to take their battle to the venue with the latter even tweeting: ‘Some chance fight happens in Colosseum.’
The Italian minister of culture contacted Zuckerberg to offer to host the fight at the Colosseum
The Colosseum, one of the world’s seven wonders, is Rome’s most iconic landmark but has not hosted massive audiences inside for hundreds of years.
The nearly 2,000-year-old amphitheatre can only seat a few hundred spectators inside on temporary seating.
In 2003, Sir Paul McCartney performed for 400 people who paid up to $1,500 for an exclusive charity show. But now Zuckerberg and Musk could put on a show worthy of rivaling the Roman’s gladiators.
There have been other concerts held outside the theatre but it’s unclear if Zuckerberg and Musk would throw it down inside or outside the landmark.
