Meta Launches Threads as Mark Zuckerberg's Long-Awaited Twitter Rival Arrives on iOS and Android: All Details

Threads, Facebook's text-based counterpart to Twitter, was formally launched on Wednesday, but its distribution in Europe has been postponed due to legal issues.

Threads is the most significant threat to Elon Musk's Twitter, which has seen a slew of prospective rivals emerge but has struggled to replace one of social media's most renowned firms, despite its catastrophic troubles.

At 23:00 GMT (4:30am IST), the app became live on the Apple and Android app stores, with accounts already active for celebrities such as Shakira and Jack Black, as well as media organisations such as The Hollywood Reporter, Vice, and Netflix.

"Let's get started. In his first post on the new network, Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said, "Welcome to Threads."

The app was released as a clear spin-off of Instagram, with a built-in audience of over two billion users, saving it the task of beginning from scratch.

Zuckerberg is generally believed to be using Musk's tumultuous ownership of Twitter in order to launch the new platform, which the corporation believes will become the go-to communication route for celebrities, businesses, and politicians.

"It's as simple as that: if an Instagram user with a large number of followers, such as a Kardashian, Bieber, or Messi, begins posting on Threads regularly, a new platform could quickly thrive," strategic financial analyst Brian Wieser remarked on Substack.

Threads would only require one out of every four Instagram monthly users, according to Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Engberg, to "make it as big as Twitter."

"Twitter users are desperate for an alternative, and Musk has given Zuckerberg an opening," she continued.

Musk and Zuckerberg are known to be ardent adversaries, and have even offered to wrestle it out in a combat cage.

This followed reports that a Meta official informed staff that Threads would be similar to Twitter but "sanely run."

In an attempt to distance itself from Twitter's nasty reputation, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri informed users that Threads will be "an open and friendly platform for conversations."

"The best thing you can do if you want that, too, is to be kind," he said.

Twitter's content control has been reduced to a bare minimum under Musk, with errors and impulsive choices ruining the site's reputation and frightening away celebrities and large advertisers.

Musk hired advertising professional Linda Yaccarino to help steady the ship, but she has not been immune to Musk's whimsy.

The Tesla tycoon said last week that he was restricting access to Twitter as a "temporary measure" to prevent AI firms from "scraping" the site to train their system.

Musk then enraged Twitter's most ardent fans by announcing that access to its TweetDeck tool, which lets users to watch a rapid stream of tweets at once, would be restricted to paying subscribers exclusively.

Fediverse will be available shortly

Threads owner Meta has its share of detractors, particularly in Europe, and despite Instagram's large user base, they might stymie the site's growth.

The corporation previously known as Facebook is mostly chastised for its treatment of personal data, which serves as the foundation for targeted advertisements that let it earn billions of dollars in earnings every quarter.

According to a source close to the situation, regulatory worries will cause the debut of Threads to be delayed in the European Union, where Meta would be subject to a new regulation known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which establishes rigorous requirements for the world's largest online corporations.

One guideline prohibits platforms from moving personal data between products, which may possibly apply to Threads and Instagram.

Meta was discovered doing just that after purchasing the messaging software WhatsApp, and European regulators will be on high watch to ensure that the corporation does not do the same with Threads.

Another original Threads plan, making it compatible with other Twitter competitors like as Mastodon, is currently on hold but not abandoned.

"Soon, you'll be able to follow and interact with people on other fediverse platforms," the app informed users.

The so-called fediverse would enable many platforms of various sizes and shapes to connect with one another.