Threads: Instagram's Twitter rival app goes live, gets over 2 million users in two hours

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 6, 2023, 9:24 AM IST

Instagram-powered Threads, the Twitter-rival app, was launched at 4:30 AM, much ahead of its schedule. The platform has witnessed massive popularity with more than 2 million users joining in just two hours.

Meta has unveiled an app to rival Twitter, appearing to target users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned and frequently changed by Elon Musk. The new product, called Threads, is described as a text-based replacement for Meta's Instagram photo-sharing programme that offers "a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations," according to the business.

Cutting short the launch time by 15 hours, the platform went live at 4:30 AM IST. Both the iOS and the Android version of the app is available to download and install. In just two hours, the app has witnessed registration of more than 2 million users, as per a report by The Verge.

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The application went online soon after midnight on Wednesday in the UK and is now available in more than 100 countries, including the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Japan, as well as Apple and Google Android app stores. One place Threads won't be rolled out is in the European Union, which has strict data privacy rules. Gordon Ramsay, Shakira, and Mark Hoyle, better known as YouTuber LadBaby, are a few early-adopting celebrities.

Screenshots given to the media show that users have a microblogging experience akin to Twitter, which suggests that Meta Platforms has been preparing to directly compete with the platform after Musk's turbulent ownership led to a number of unpopular changes that turned off users and advertisers.

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There are buttons for like, reposting, responding to, and quoting a "thread," as well as counters that display how many likes and replies a post has gotten. More than Twitter's 280-character restriction, posts are limited to 500 characters and may contain links, images, and videos that are up to five minutes long.

On the new app, Instagram users will be able to sign in using their current identities and follow the same profiles. All new users must create an Instagram account. In order to keep users secure, Meta emphasises taking steps like enforcing Instagram's community rules and giving users options to manage who may mention or react to them.

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