Grace Ashiru
Meta has recently introduced Threads, a text-based social networking platform that has quickly garnered millions of users shortly after its launch. Threads directly compete with Twitter, offering similar features and functionalities.
The app allows users to engage with short text posts by liking, reposting, and replying to them, resembling Twitter’s core capabilities. However, it does not include a direct messaging feature, distinguishing it from Twitter’s messaging functionalities.
As mentioned in a blog post on the Meta website, Threads allows users to create posts with a maximum limit of 500 characters. Furthermore, users can include links, images, and videos in their posts, with videos lasting up to five minutes.
Despite being a stand-alone app, Threads allows users to log in using their Instagram credentials. This integration enables users to easily follow the same profiles and seamlessly incorporate Threads into daily routines. With Instagram boasting over 2 billion monthly active users, this feature can potentially attract a significant user base to the Threads platform.
Prominent figures from various domains, including celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez, as well as notable politicians such as Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wasted no time joining the ranks of the early adopters of Threads.
The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, also actively participated in the platform’s launch. He shared his first message on the app, warmly greeting users with the words “Welcome to Threads” and a fire emoji. According to Zuckerberg’s statement, within a remarkable seven-hour span, the app attracted a staggering 10 million sign-ups, indicating an impressive initial user response to the platform.
In anticipation of the launch of Threads, Meta’s stock experienced a positive surge, concluding Wednesday with a 3% increase.
Upon its official launch, Threads became available for download from the App Store and the Google Play Store in over a hundred countries worldwide. However, due to compliance concerns regarding local data privacy laws, the European Union (EU) was excluded from the available regions for the app.
