6-7-2023 (SAN FRANCISCO) Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, announced on Thursday (July 6) that more than 10 million people have signed up for Threads, the company’s challenger to Twitter, within the first few hours of its launch. Threads represents the most significant competition to Elon Musk’s Twitter, which has faced potential rivals but has yet to be replaced by another social media giant, despite its well-known struggles.
The app was made available on the Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 11 PM GMT on Wednesday (7 AM Singapore time) and will initially run without ads.
Zuckerberg took to his official Threads account on Thursday to share the milestone, writing, “10 million sign-ups in seven hours.”
Accounts for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and Hugh Jackman, as well as media outlets like The Washington Post and The Economist, were already active on the platform. Zuckerberg spent the initial hours of the launch responding to new users.
In a reply to American MMA fighter Jon Jones, he wrote, “One thing that’s up is the number of world champion MMA fighters on Threads, especially now that you’re here!”
He also took the opportunity to take a swipe at Musk, with whom he has a well-known rivalry. Posting his first tweet in over a decade, Zuckerberg shared a Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme, seemingly highlighting the similarities between the two platforms.
Returning to Threads, he commented, “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will.”
Twitter has stated that it has over 200 million daily users.
Threads, launched as a clear spin-off of Instagram, benefits from an existing user base of more than two billion, sparing the new platform the challenge of building from scratch.
Zuckerberg is believed to be leveraging Musk’s tumultuous ownership of Twitter to promote Threads, which Meta hopes will become the preferred communication channel for celebrities, companies, and politicians.
“If an Instagram user with a large number of followers such as Kardashian or a Bieber or a Messi begins posting on Threads regularly, a new platform could quickly thrive,” explained strategic financial analyst Brian Wieser.
Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Engberg noted that Threads only needs one out of four Instagram monthly users “to make it as big as Twitter.”
“Twitter users are desperate for an alternative, and Musk has given Zuckerberg an opening,” she added.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri emphasized that Threads aims to build “an open and friendly platform for conversations” and urged users to practice kindness.
Meanwhile, under Musk’s leadership, Twitter has faced minimal content moderation, glitches, and impulsive decisions, which have driven away celebrities and major advertisers. Musk recently hired advertising executive Linda Yaccarino to stabilize the platform, but she too has not been exempt from his unpredictable behavior.
Last week, Musk announced restrictions on access to Twitter to prevent AI companies from “scraping” the site for training their technology. He also caused outrage among loyal Twitter users by declaring that access to its TweetDeck product would be exclusively for paying customers.
Despite Meta’s massive user base, the company faces criticism, particularly in Europe, regarding its handling of personal data, which is crucial for targeted advertising that generates billions in quarterly profits.
Mosseri expressed regret over the delayed launch in the EU, acknowledging that waiting for regulatory clarity from Brussels would result in Threads being “many, many, many months away.”
“I was worried that our window would close because timing is important,” he added.
Meta is wary of the Digital Markets Act (DMA),a new law in Europe that imposes strict regulations on internet companies deemed “gatekeepers.” One of the rules prohibits the transfer of personal data between platforms, which could potentially affect the sharing of data between Threads and Instagram.
Meta has faced scrutiny in the past for breaching this rule after acquiring the messaging app WhatsApp, and European regulators will closely monitor its compliance with data privacy regulations in relation to Threads.
