Threads, a social networking programme aiming at competing with Twitter, has amassed over 100 million users in less than five days.
The platform, which was introduced by Instagram owner Meta, has surpassed the previous record established by Open AI’s ChatGPT app.
Threads was released last Wednesday in 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, in the Apple and Android app stores.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, said he “couldn’t believe” the milestone had been reached so quickly.
Threads hasn’t had it all easy; it’s not currently available in mainland Europe because of questions about whether it conforms with EU data privacy regulations.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s industry commissioner, told French radio station Franceinfo in his first public remarks on the matter that “taking a little time to do so seems to me to be probably a good policy.”
Despite its difficulties in the EU, Threads has had remarkable development. Meta, which also owns Facebook, stated that the app had ten million users within the first seven hours of introduction and more than thirty million by Thursday morning.
That amount has more than doubled within 24 hours.
It is still some distance behind its major competitors. Threads’ user base of 100 million is less than one-third of Twitter’s estimated 350 million users.
Since billionaire Elon Musk took control, some Twitter users have grown dissatisfied. Thousands of positions have been slashed during his tenure, and he has promised a number of reforms to help Twitter earn cash.
Other competitors, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, have arisen but have faltered due to a lack of an existing user base.
Threads has benefited from its association with Instagram, which has over one billion users.
People who join up for Threads will have a link to their Threads profile on their Instagram profile, however, this can be hidden.
Threads requires users to have an Instagram account in order to sign up.
You cannot deactivate your Threads profile without also removing the corresponding Instagram profile.
Deactivating your Threads profile, however, will not deactivate your Instagram account.
According to Meta, deactivation means that your Threads profile, posts, and interactions with others’ postings will no longer be accessible.
Legal threat
Twitter has threatened Threads with legal action since its introduction.
A corporate lawyer charged Mr Zuckerberg with “systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property” in order to establish Threads.
Twitter stated that Meta employed former workers who “had access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information” and “continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.” Meta has vehemently refuted this.
Threads users may publish text of up to 500 characters, which is larger than Twitter’s 280-character limit. Both applications allow users to share links, photos, and videos.
However, the regulations controlling what content may be submitted differ – nudity and NSFW (not safe for work) explicit photographs are not permitted on Threads.
Similarly to Twitter, there is currently no desktop version of Threads.
Source: BBC.com
