Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that over 2 million users signed up for the new Threads app within two hours of its launch.
Threads was developed to rival Twitter, with the app featuring a similar format and purpose. Zuckerberg appears to have been hoping to capitalize on the disruption surrounding Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. If the Facebook CEO is to be believed, the initial figures appear positive for the new app.
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“Glad you’re all here on day one. Let’s build something great together!” Zuckerberg wrote on Threads.
“The world needs a friendly public space for conversation. If we do this well, then Threads can be that space. We’re going to stay focused on that as our north star,” he added.
The app launched at 7 p.m. on Wednesday — a day earlier launch than the expected Thursday debut.
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Threads operates similarly to Twitter. It’s a “text-based conversation app” that uses a community-based approach similar to fellow Twitter competitors Mastodon or Bluesky, but it requires a user’s Instagram account to connect. With Mastodon and Bluesky failing to reach the heights of Twitter, Zuckerberg hopes the new app will unseat Twitter as the king of microblogging.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, describes the app as a place where “communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow.” Other social media users have labeled the app the “Twitter killer.”