Mark Zuckerburg has aimed a dig at Elon Musk's Twitter on the day of the launch of his new app Threads.
Threads – created by Facebook and Instagram owners Meta – went live today (July 6) and has already seen over 10 million people join, according to Meta Boss Mark Zuckerberg.
On on one of his posts on the new app, Zuckerburg said he has big plans for the app, aiming for 1 billion users, which Twitter "hasn't nailed".
He wrote: "It'll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversation app with 1 billion people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will."
With many changes taking place on Twitter under the ownership of Elon Musk, including the removal of verified legacy accounts and changes to Twitter’s dashboard application Tweetdeck, users will be trying their luck with Zuckerberg’s latest offering.
Earlier, Zuckerberg suggested that Threads would be a more wholesome alternative to Twitter.
“The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success,” he said.
Musk tweeted about Meta, saying: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram."
The new app is the latest chapter in the rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk, who bought Twitter in October.
Last month, the pair – two of the world’s most high-profile billionaires – agreed to take each other on in a cage fight in an exchange that went viral on social media.
Visually, Threads looks similar to Twitter, with options to post, quote a thread, search, like and reply to posts and view ‘activity’ linked to what you post – which is also the case for Twitter through ‘notifications’.
The column-based design of Twitter also seems to have been replicated by Threads, with users scrolling vertically through the app to view what others are posting.
There is also a verification option, which currently appears to give a blue verified tick to accounts already verified on Instagram.
Unlike Twitter, Threads does not currently have an option of directly messaging other users, and there is no desktop version at the moment.
Other features that Twitter has that Threads does not include lists, bookmarks and the ability to join communities.Threads also does not appear to use hashtags and searching for words and phrases posted by users instead of the names of specific accounts, which has historically been easy to do on Twitter, seems to be limited.
Celebrities have already began flocking to Threads, with singer Shakira posting “Well hello threads”.
Chef Gordon Ramsey posted: “Is this where I find the lamb sauce??”
Meanwhile, businessman Richard Branson wrote: “Thready, steady, go.”
Others have shared their hopes for the new app or expressed their relief from having a new social media tool to use instead of Twitter.
