The battle of the billionaires has just been ramped up a notch.
Meta’s Twitter rival, Threads, has finally launched, logging ten million sign-ups in its first seven hours of operation, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and already has a hefty amount of celebrity backers.
The app, which looks shamelessly similar to Twitter, is seeking to attract users from Elon Musk’s ailing platform, and comes days after another controversial move by the CEO which prompted talks of a mass exodus.
The site launched at midnight in the UK, and looks set to challenge Twitter in a way that alternatives, such as Mastodon and Bluesky, haven’t quite managed.
Firstly, you’ll need an Instagram account to sign up, but if you have one it’s scarily easy to join. You’re up and running in just a few clicks, which perhaps explains why brands such as Billboard, HBO, NPR and Netflix had accounts set up within minutes of launch.
And the list of celebrity names on board just keeps getting longer. Hollywood royalty including Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez have all signed up, already racking up tens of thousands of followers.
Usernames and verification carry over from Instagram, meaning Threads can quickly and easily assembling a huge line-up of famous faces and brands.
Jack Harlow, Zayn Malik, Gordon Ramsay, Karlie Kloss, Liam Payne, Ellie Goulding, and the Dalai Lama have also been seen logging on the app.
Screenshots from multiple celebrity Threads accounts began circulating on social media on Wednesday, with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay joking, “Is this where I find the lamb sauce ??” and pop star Shakira writing a short and simple “Well hello Threads.”
J.Lo has also joined in posting her first threads, writing: “Hola Threads! What should we thread about first?!”, followed by “Can’t get enough of your threads”.
Footballer Kingsley Coman, MMA Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, 5x Christmas number one creators LadBaby, Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett, NBA star Seth Curry, investor and business guru Gary Vee, and comedian Adam Waheed are in the mix too.
Even if you don’t follow these celebrities, they may show up in your feed if their posts are deemed "recommended content".
Meta described Threads as a “new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations”, aiming to “take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas”. The tech giant has not been averse to copying aspects of rival products in the past. First it was Instagram Stories in 2016, a blatant rip-off of Snapchat, and then it was the 2020 launch of Instagram’s Reels feature, noted for its similarity to TikTok’s short-form videos.
Question is, could this be the final nail in Twitter’s coffin? And so, we wait.
