After months of speculation and secrecy, Mark Zuckerberg’s long-rumoured competitor app to Twitter is here.

The new app, Threads, was unveiled on Wednesday as a companion to Instagram, the popular photo-sharing network that Zuckerberg’s company, Meta, bought more than a decade ago. If Instagram executives get their way, Threads will also replace rival Twitter, with some techies referring to it as a “Twitter killer”.

The rollout of Threads ramps up the rivalry between Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year. Musk has changed the experience of Twitter by tinkering with its algorithm and other features, and most recently imposed temporary limits on how many tweets people could read when using the app, inciting outrage.

Many tech companies have tried capitalising on Twitter’s turmoil in recent months. But Threads has a leg up, backed by Meta’s deep pockets and Instagram’s enormous user base of more than two billion monthly active users around the world.

In a post to his Threads account on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said: “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.” He later said that Threads achieved 10 million sign-ups within seven hours of its launch.

Musk weighed in, saying he was not impressed by Threads and claiming he had cancelled his Instagram account. “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” he wrote on Twitter.

Built by Instagram, Threads is positioned as an app where people can have real-time, public conversations with one another.

Threads also helps boost Instagram.

“The idea is to hopefully build an open, friendly space for communities,” Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said.

Instagram has tied Threads closely to itself. Those interested in signing up for the new app are required to have an Instagram account for now.

A user’s Instagram handle must also be their Threads user name.

And people will be able to directly import the list of those they follow on Instagram to Threads if they wish. Instagram’s verified users will also be verified on the new app. Users can set their Threads account to be private or public.

New York Times News Service