Twitter rival Threads goes live; passes 2 million sign ups

Users can log on to Threads through their Instagram accounts and connect with friends and creators who share their interests. It will be available in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android

Mark Zuckerberg has announced the initial version of Twitter rival Threads, an app built by the Instagram team for sharing text, which launches today. This alternative to the popular micro-blogging site offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.

With the launch, users can follow and connect with friends and creators who share their interests – including the people they follow on Instagram and beyond.

It will be available in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android, and people in those countries can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. 

The platform passed two million signups in its first two hours live in the App Store as noted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his Threads account.

Join the Conversation from Instagram

Users have to use their Instagram accounts to log in. The Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize the profile specifically for Threads. 

Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads. You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who have the same interests. The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads.

Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose. 

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Personalization

Users can control who can mention them or reply within Threads. You can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. Alongside this, there are options to unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.

Compatible with Interoperable Networks

Soon, the platform will be working on making it compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web.

This would make Threads interoperable with other apps such as Mastodon and WordPress – allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today.

The platform is also working on adding a number of new features, including improved recommendations in the feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real-time.