More than 30 million users have registered for Threads, the new app developed by Meta Platforms Inc. to directly rival Twitter, posing the most significant challenge to Elon Musk’s struggling social media platform.
Threads allow users to share text and links and engage in replies and reposts. The app enables users to migrate their existing follower lists and account names from Instagram, Meta’s popular photo and video-sharing platform, with over 2 billion users, including major brands, celebrities, and creators.
Threads’ has got some good responses.
Based on internal data, within less than 24 hours since its launch, users have shared over 95 million threads (or tweets, as some refer to them) and given around 190 million likes on Threads.
The app was released Wednesday evening for iOS and Android, a notable deviation from the initially planned Thursday launch. The app has garnered substantial attention, currently holding the top position among free apps on the App Store, indicating users’ high level of interest.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed his vision for a public conversations app with over a billion users, noting that Twitter had missed the opportunity to achieve this.
Largely stable, with a few reported glitches
Despite significant sign-ups, Threads remained stable, with only sporadic reports of temporary glitches.
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with millions of followers on Twitter, mentioned experiencing issues with the app. At the same time, other users raised concerns about the app’s terms and conditions, which state that deleting a Threads account requires also wiping the associated Instagram account.
Some users encountered difficulties accessing Zuckerberg’s posts on the app, indicating that Meta still has work to do. Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the lack of certain expected features, such as tagging, hashtag searching, and a home feed for followed accounts, stating that these enhancements are on their to-do list.
Zuckerberg highlighted that the strong initial interest in Threads clearly indicates demand. According to Connor Hayes, Vice President of Product, influential Instagram users, they had been requesting a text-based app as an alternative without needing to start building a following from scratch.
Musk is livid and calls Threads a copycat app.
Elon Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, in which he accused him of participating in the “unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.” The contents of this letter were first disclosed by the news outlet Semafor.
Musk is livid at the fact that Threads had such an overwhelming response. By all accounts, it is one of the fastest growing apps, and if certain publications are to be believed, the fastest to hit the 1 million, 10 million, 20 million, and 30 million user mark – all within a day.
ChatGPT, although it isn’t a social media platform, held the previous record of the fastest-growing userbase when it hit its first 1 million users five days after launch.
Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta, have a track record of emulating products from emerging competitors, as seen with Reels, inspired by TikTok, and Stories, influenced by Snapchat.
While Meta’s apps indirectly competed with Twitter in the past by attracting news publishers, politicians, and high-profile individuals, the release of Threads marks the first time Meta has introduced a Twitter-like offering.
