Twitter’s new rival Threads gets 10m users within seven hours of launch

Meta’s new Threads app, which is a direct rival of Twitter, attained 10 million followers in the first seven hours of its launch, the company’s owner, Mark Zuckerberg, has said.

Mr Zuckerberg said Threads app, which was launched on Wednesday and has many features like those of Twitter, is user friendly and “will ultimately be the key to its success”.

Threads allows users to post up to 500 characters and people can also share links, photos and videos that can be as long as 5 minutes.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” Meta said.

“Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world,” they added.

The launch of Threads comes as thousands of Twitter users continue to express disgruntlement over recent changes to the platform since it was acquired by Elon Musk.

Meta says the new app is an “initial version”, with extra features coming, including the ability to interact with people on other social media apps.

“Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words,” they said. “You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.”

Threads is now available to download in over 100 countries including the UK