Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched his brand new social media platform, Threads, this morning in a bid to compete directly with Twitter.
The 39-year-old US billionaire launched the app on Android and iOS app stores in the early hours of Thursday morning and public enthusiasm for its release is already proving high.
Commenting on the early stages of the app's launch, Zuckerberg said: "Just passed 5 million sign ups in the first four hours."
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Threads, designed to act as a reliable and innovative alternative to Elon Musk's Twitter, was described by Zuckerberg as "an open and friendly public space for conversations" which "takes the best parts of the Instagram experience and creates a whole new app around text, ideas and sharing what's on your mind."
Given how Meta is also the parent company of Instagram, Threads accounts will be linked to a user's Instagram account, meaning they can log in with the same details, maintain the same followers and follow the same public pages.
Users will also be able to send posts of up to 500 characters, including photos and GIFs, as well as videos of maximum five minutes in length.
"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," Zuckerberg added.
In a thinly-veiled dig at Twitter, Zuckerberg posted on the app this morning: "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."
However, the launch of Threads does not come without concerns for user privacy, The Mirror reports.
By signing up to the app, users will be granting data on health, fitness, finances, contacts and even browsing history to parent company Meta.
This deep dive into your personal information will allow the app to more accurately target you with advertising most relevant to your habits and interests to ensure maximum commercial engagement, or to essentially sell your attention.
For these reasons, it comes as no surprise that Threads is yet to be rolled out in the app stores of European Union members states where strict privacy laws exist under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Markets Act, set to come into force in 2024, which will forbid the use of sensitive information such as health data for ad profiling of users.
This means that curious Irish users eager to take part in the latest Meta venture will have to wait some time, with a source close to the company hinting that the tech giant is holding back from a full release within the EU until it fully understands the incoming Digital Markets Act.
Elon Musk has come under fire for implementing major reforms as Twitter CEO such as sweeping layoffs, creating tiered content and introducing a charge on verification, meaning that Irish users with Android and iOS devices who possessed a verified blue tick were now expected to pay €11 per month to keep it.
The launch of Threads is sure to fuel the bubbling feud developing between Zuckerberg and Musk, who have even been rumoured to be in preparation for a mixed martial arts bout against each other in the near future, with the Colosseum being touted as a potential venue for the extraordinary event.
This comes just days after Twitter faced major backlash for limiting the number of tweets verified and unverified users can view in a day, the move will certainly serve to raise the stakes in the relentless race to the top of tech between Zuckerberg and Musk.
