Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched a direct challenge to Twitter with Threads, garnering millions of users in hours as it sought to take advantage of its rival's much-weakened state after a series of chaotic decisions from owner Elon Musk.
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Those quick to join the new platform included celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez as well as prominent politicians such as Democratic US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
"Let's do this. Welcome to Threads," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his first post on the app, along with a fire emoji. He said the app logged 10 million sign-ups in seven hours.
He also took to Twitter, posting a well-known meme of Spiderman facing off against Spiderman - in a humorous jab at the rivalry with Musk and between the two services.
Analysts have said Threads' ties to Instagram might give it a built-in user base and advertising apparatus. That could siphon ad dollars from Twitter at a time when its new CEO is trying to revive its struggling business.
While Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, potentially making it an easy addition to existing habits for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users.
"Investors can't help but be a little excited about the prospect that Meta really has a 'Twitter-Killer'," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at investment firm AJ Bell.
Much like Twitter, the app features short text posts that users can like, re-post, and reply to, although it does not include any direct message capabilities. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to five minutes long, according to a Meta blog post.
Zuckerberg noted the challenges that big public social media forums bring. "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," he wrote.
The integration with Instagram included several nods to privacy considerations. Instagram users who sign up for Threads automatically have a badge affixed to their Instagram profile, but can opt to hide it. They also are given options to choose different privacy settings for each app.
