Mark Zuckerberg's Meta launches 'Twitter Killer' Threads app, all details here

With Twitter already on the ropes, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg delivered another blow to Elon Musk on Wednesday, ramping up the tech billionaires' rivalry with the launch of Instagram's much-anticipated companion service Threads, a challenger to Twitter.

"Let's do this. Welcome to Threads," Zuckerberg wrote in his first post on the app, along with a fire emoji. He said the app logged 5 million sign-ups in its first four hours.

How can you sign up?

Users can log in using their existing Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts. The Instagram username and other details can be carried over to Threads, without the hassle of making a new profile. Users can also customise their profile on the application if they wish to. Accounts of users under the age of 16 (or 18 in some countries) will be automatically defaulted into a private when they join the platform.

Features

Much like Twitter, the app features short text posts that users can like, re-post and reply to, although it does not include any direct message capabilities. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long, according to a Meta blog post.

A Sreengrab of threads from Apple's App Store

It is available in more than 100 countries on both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, the blog post said.

Analysts said investors were salivating over the possibility that Threads' ties to Instagram might give it a built-in user base and advertising apparatus. That could siphon ad dollars from Twitter at a time when the microblogging company's new CEO is trying to revive its struggling business.

Privacy on Threads

Threads has the option to block, restrict, unfollow and report profiles. The platform automatically blocks accounts that have been blocked on Instagram. Profiles have control over who can mention or reply to their posts. The application has Instagram's Community Guidelines for content and interactions.

What was the response to Threads' launch? 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg (who goes by @zuck on threads) said that the new platform garnered 2 million sign ups in the first couple of hours and later passed 5 million sign ups in the first four hours of the launch. 

"Threads just passed 2 million sign ups in the first two hours," posted Meta CEO Zuckerberg on Threads.

"Just passed 5 million sign ups in the first four hours...," he said in an update. 

(With inputs from Reuters)