Meta’s newly launched Threads app attracted ten million users in its first seven hours, according to the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
He positioned the app as a “friendly” competitor to Twitter, which Elon Musk purchased in October.
According to experts, Threads could appeal to Twitter users who are dissatisfied with recent platform changes.
Threads allows users to post up to 500 characters and is similar to Twitter in many ways.
Mr Zuckerberg previously stated that keeping the platform “friendly… will ultimately be the key to its success.”
But Mr Musk responded: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.”
When asked if the app will be “bigger than Twitter” on Threads, Mr Zuckerberg said, “It’ll take some time, but 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.”
Competitors have criticised the app’s potential use of data. According to the Apple App Store, this may include health, financial, and browsing data linked to users’ identities.
Threads is now available for download in over 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, but not in the European Union due to regulatory concerns.
