Threads by Instagram – live: Meta’s new Twitter rival app gets 10 million sign-ups in first hours of launch

Meta’s new Twitter rival Threads has racked up over five million signups within the first four hours of its launch, the tech giant’s chief Mark Zuckerberg said.

Threads arrives at a particularly difficult time for Elon Musk’s Twitter. The site has faced a range of technical issues in recent days, which it has blamed on AI services scraping its site.

“Threads, an Instagram app” is already listed on the App Store. It aims to take on the app with a range of features that are similar to those offered by Twitter, according to its App Store listing.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” it reads. “Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”

It is the latest in a long line of apps to try and take over from the increasingly troubled Twitter in offering text-based updates.

Key Points

• Threads might arrive at the worst possible time for Elon Musk

• Threads’ simplicity might be its USP

• UFC and others have already posted on the site

You can’t leave Threads without leaving Instagram

16:35 , Andrew Griffin

Part of Threads’ rules is causing some concern: you can’t leave it without also leaving Instagram. That’s one of a couple of complaints that have sprung up in the first few hours of Threads going live.

Full story here.

Meta says it has 30 million sign-ups

16:34 , Andrew Griffin

Meta says that Threads has received 30 million signups in its first 12 hours. That includes some of the world’s biggest celebrities: it points to Kris and Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Ashley Graham, Paris Hilton, and Oprah.

(The inclusion of the Jenner-Kardashian clan is interesting; Kylie and Kim were among the first big signatories to a “Make Instagram Instagram Again” petition, which criticised the app’s move towards video and algorithmically chosen content.)

No ads until Threads grows, says Zuckerberg

15:19 , Andrew Griffin

Mark Zuckerberg has announced – on Threads – that the app will not be getting ads until it grows a lot more.

“Our approach will be the same as all our other products: make the product work well first, then see if we can get it on a clear path to 1 billion people, and only then think about monetization at that point,” he wrote on a reply on the site.

Threads' features and upcoming updates

11:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Meta has envisioned Threads to be an app that would “take what Instagram does best and expand that to text.”

It enables users to log in using their Instagram account and make posts of up to 500 characters, including links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.

“Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads,” Meta noted in a blog post.

Users under 16 – or under 18 in some countries – will be defaulted into a private profile when they join the new app.

The app also has screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions – features already available on Instagram.

Users also can share their Threads post to their Instagram story.

New Meta app Threads launches in UK

Meta said Instagram’s Community Guidelines on content and interactions will be enforced in the app.

“Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words,” the tech giant noted.

Meta is reportedly also working to make Threads interoperable with other apps that support the ActivityPub protocol like the decentralised Mastodon social network.

This could help people using compatible apps to follow and interact with Threads users without having a Threads account, the company said.

Mark Zuckerberg posts first tweet in 11 years

10:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg posted his first tweet in 11 years, sharing a meme that appears to troll Twitter.

The popular meme of two Spider-Men pointing at each other was shared without any caption or context.

Zuckerberg’s meme comes after Meta rolled out Twitter rival app Threads, which is touted as an “open and friendly public space for conversation”.

“Our vision is to take the best parts of Instagram and create a new experience for text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind. I think the world needs this kind of friendly community, and I’m grateful to all of you who are part of Threads from day one. Threads is available in the app store now,” the Meta chief said.

Users express frustration over Threads's deactivation rules

09:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Many early users of Meta’s Threads are voicing their frustration over the new app’s rules for deactivating profiles.

Users are expressing displeasure with a prompt on the app which says that to delete their Threads profile they would need to completely delete their Instagram accounts.

“To delete your Threads profile and data, you’ll need to delete your Instagram account,” the prompt reads.

Musk says he’d rather be unhappy on Twitter than using Threads

08:24 , Andrew Griffin

Elon Musk has been trying a number of ways of doing down Threads, and attempting to head off any threat to his own Twitter. Earlier this week, for instance, he was talking about the app’s privacy policy. He has also looked to make fun of Threads’ familiar design, which borrows heavily from Twitter.

But he’s also said that he would rather be unhappy on Twitter than “indulge” in Instagram. The future of Threads and Twitter might depend a lot on whether other people prefer to be “attacked by strangers”.

What it’s like to use Threads

08:20 , Andrew Griffin

Instagram’s new app is still getting going. But here’s some first impressions on what it’s like to use – and some speculation on whether it will take over from Twitter.

You can read the full thing here.

Threads

08:19 , Andrew Griffin

Threads has now passed over 10 million users, says Mark Zuckerberg, and it’s still only been live for eight hours. (He’s been giving live updates throughout the launch, and is no doubt delighted by what are undeniably very high numbers for a new app.)

Full story here.

What Threads' 'decentralisation' ambitions mean

08:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Threads is the first app by Meta aiming for decentralisation – an approach that makes it particularly stand out from Twitter.

While this feature isn’t ready yet on the new platform, Meta envisions users to be able to plug their Threads posts into other social media platforms.

“Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks,” the tech giant noted in a blog post.

This makes Threads’ approach and goals very different from that of Twitter, which has been restricting its API access to third-party developers in recent times.

With such open social networking protocols, Threads hopes it would open up the platform for developers to build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, helping accelerate the pace of innovation and experimentation.

This could lead to each compatible version of the app to set its own community standards and content moderation policies, enabling more freedom for people to choose the spaces that align with their values.

“We believe this decentralised approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms,” the company explained.

'Five million sign ups in 4 hours'

06:58 , Vishwam Sankaran

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg posted that Threads has seen over 5 million sign-ups since its launch.

“Just passed 5 million sign-ups in the first four hours,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Earlier in the day, the app had seen over 2 million signups within the first 2 hours of its launch.

The app’s link to Instagram allows users to create Threads accounts with their existing Instagram usernames, as well as connect with those they already follow on the image-based app.

'Two million sign ups passed in first two hours'

05:55 , Vishwam Sankaran

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads that the new app has passed over 2 million sign ups since its launch.

“Threads just passed 2 million sign ups in the first two hours,” Mr Zuckerberg posted.

The Twitter rival app is available in over 100 countries and allows users to post up to 500 characters.

Mr Zuckerberg said keeping the platform “friendly... will ultimately be the key to its success”.

Asked whether the app will be “bigger than Twitter,” he said “It’ll take some time,” adding that “there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it.”

Threads to do for text what Instagram achieves for photos and videos, Meta says

05:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Threads allows users to post text 500 characters long and also include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.

“Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas,” Meta noted in a blog post.

Users can start on Threads using their Instagram account to log in.

How to get and use ‘Threads’, the biggest new social app

“Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads,” the company noted.

“You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who care about the same things you do,” it said.

Here’s everything you need to know about the app’s launch.

Threads faces trouble launching in Europe over privacy concerns

03:54 , Vishwam Sankaran

While the Twitter competitor app is downloadable in US and UK app stores, users in EU countries like Germany cannot use it.

Threads would access Instagram user data, including search history, location data, and other private information, according to TechCrunch.

Twitter co-founder and former chief Jack Dorsey tweeted his concerns about Thread’s data requirements.

“All your Threads belong to us,” Mr Dorsey tweeted along with a snapshot of the new app’s data needs mentioned in its App Store page. Twitter’s current owner Elon Musk acknowledged the tweet by replying “Yeah.”

Threads may also be accessing users’ other private data, including financial and health information, exact location, browser history, contacts, and search history.

Meta is reportedly figuring out ways to adjust to the EU’s data protection laws.

Eurovision welcomes Europe – but most of the continent can’t hear it

Thursday 6 July 2023 00:29 , Andrew Griffin

Among the early people posting to Threads is Eurovision, which kicked off with a post reading “Good evening Europe”. But, as the top comment points out, most of Europe can’t read that post – the app is not available in the European Union because of data privacy concerns.

UFC and others have already posted on the site

Thursday 6 July 2023 00:26 , Andrew Griffin

Instagram has been encouraging its early adopters to post early, so that the news feed is full when people first enter it. And that seems to have worked: the feed already has posts from people including the UFC, many of which went up hours before the app actually went live.

How to sign up for Threads

Thursday 6 July 2023 00:24 , Andrew Griffin

Meta has made Threads as easy to get started with as possible. You log in with your existing account, and the design is a simple mash-up of Instagram and Twitter.

Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

Threads is here!

Thursday 6 July 2023 00:02 , Andrew Griffin

Threads has now been announced. You can find out everything you need to know here.

How to delete Twitter

Wednesday 5 July 2023 23:46 , Andrew Griffin

There has, perhaps, been more interest in leaving Twitter than going to an alternative, like Threads. If you want to get away from Elon Musk’s social network and delete your account while you do, here’s what you need to do.

Threads’ simplicity might be its USP

Wednesday 5 July 2023 21:09 , Andrew Griffin

Numerous other apps have attempted to unseat Twitter, especially since Elon Musk took over and the site became both more controversial and less reliable. But most of them have struggled.

Often, that has been at least partly the result of friction in signing up. Mastodon involves a slightly complex system of different servers that result in long display names; Bluesky is still in a limited release that means people need a signup code.

Threads – backed by the mighty infrastructure of Meta – seems to be ready to take all signups at launch. (Presumably, people might not even need to actually sign up at all, if they have an Instagram account.) That might be one of the ways it really challenges Twitter, by reducing the time and effort required to start using it.

We’ll find out soon.

Musk looks to disparage Threads ahead of launch

Wednesday 5 July 2023 21:06 , Andrew Griffin

Elon Musk’s response to the upcoming launch of Threads has mostly been to slyly criticise it. “Thank goodness they’re so sanely run,” he tweeted sarcastically in response to one report; he responded to tweets about the app’s data collection settings in an apparent attempt to make them more visible.

That criticism comes as Elon Musk and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg move towards having a real life MMA fight.

Threads might arrive at the worst possible time for Elon Musk

Wednesday 5 July 2023 21:03 , Andrew Griffin

Twitter has gone from outrage to controversy since Elon Musk took it over late last year. And so any moment when Meta launched its competitor could have been likely to be a bad one.

But Threads is coming at a particularly bad time for Elon Musk. Key parts of the site have been breaking, and it has imposed “rate limits” that mean that its most engaged users are stopped from scrolling.

You can read all about Elon Musk and Twitter’s bad week here.

Threads three hours from launch

Wednesday 5 July 2023 20:57 , Andrew Griffin

Meta has launched a very nice looking page for Threads, with swirling colours that you can move around. (Some people are saying that it’s a little too nice, and that their computer can’t handle it properly.)

It contains only two actually useful bits of information: a QR code for signing up, and a countdown. That countdown now indicates the launch is three hours away.

(Initial reports had suggested that the launch would be happening on Thursday morning US time, but it has now seemingly moved forward.)

Threads not appearing in EU App Store over privacy rules

Wednesday 5 July 2023 17:12 , Andrew Griffin

Threads has appeared on the App Store in the US and UK. But it is not available in the European Union, and the App Store listing in that country is empty.

That is because of privacy concerns about the app, reports the Irish Independent. The country’s data protection regulator – which looks after Meta, since it is headquartered in Ireland – said that it will not be rolling out “at this point”, and the problems might be the result of confusion over the Digital Markets Act.

That seems to be because Threads imports data from Instagram. While it is a separate app, Threads is expected to be closely integrated with that other Meta app.

You can read more here.

Threads app will gather large amounts of data, listing reveals

Wednesday 5 July 2023 17:09 , Andrew Griffin

Threads is live on the App Store, though you can’t yet download it. But it does already reveal that the app will be collecting vast amounts of data:

Those details, which Apple calls “privacy nutrition labels” don’t always tell the full story: apps have to list any data they may collect, and so it might not be quite as much as the listing suggests. But it does include some notable kinds of data, including “sensitive info”.

You can find Threads’ full listing here. While you can’t download it yet, you can “pre-order” it, which will make it available on your phone once it’s out.

Hello and welcome...

Wednesday 5 July 2023 17:06 , Andrew Griffin

... to our live coverage of the launch of “Threads, an Instagram app” – Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to take over from Twitter.