Meta has unveiled an app to rival Twitter, appearing to target users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned - and frequently changed - by Elon Musk. Called Threads, the new offering is billed as a text-based version of Meta's photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides "a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations".
Meta Chief Mark Zuckerberg introduced Threads as an “open and friendly public space for conversation".
Many people were curious about Threads and people on Twitter had a gala time starting a meme fest about the same.
Take a look
The app went live just after midnight Wednesday in the UK in Apple and Google Android app stores in more than 100 countries including the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Japan. Early celebrity users include chef Gordon Ramsay, the pop star Shakira, and Mark Hoyle, better known as the YouTuber LadBaby.
Users get a Twitter-like microblogging experience, according to screenshots provided to media, suggesting that Meta Platforms has been gearing up to directly challenge the platform after Musk's tumultuous ownership has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have turned off users and advertisers.
"Our vision is that Threads will be a new app more focused on text and dialogue, modelled after what Instagram has done for photo and video," the company said.
Meta's new offering, however, has raised data privacy concerns.
Threads could collect a wide range of personal information, including health, financial, contacts, browsing and search history, location data, purchases, and "sensitive info", according to its data privacy disclosure on the App Store.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg also has been focusing on the metaverse, investing tens of billions of dollars in the virtual reality concept.
