Threads, the social media app aimed at rivalling Twitter, has signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days, according to new data.
It means Threads, launched by Instagram-owner Meta, has beaten a record set by Open AI’s ChatGPT app.
Threads went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries last Wednesday.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, which also owns Facebook, said the app had 10 million users within the first seven hours of launch and more than 30 million by Thursday morning. Around 24 hours later, that figure had more than doubled.
At 100 million, according to figures from data platform Quiver Quantitative, Threads’ base stands at less than a third of the 350 million users that Twitter is believed to have.
Some Twitter users have become disenchanted since billionaire Elon Musk took over. Thousands of jobs have been cut under his ownership and he has announced a number of changes to help generate revenue at Twitter.
Following the launch of Threads, Twitter boss, Elon Musk threatened Zuckerberg with a lawsuit over “the unlawful misappropriation” of its trade secrets.
In the letter, Alex Spiro, Twitter’s lawyer, described Threads as a “copycat” and said that Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s highly confidential information”.
However, Andy Stone, Meta spokesman, in his response to the allegation, said “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee, “that’s just not a thing”.
Threads comes with features similar to those of Twitter, such as liking, reposting, and deciding who can reply to conversations.
Users can also follow and connect with others who share similar interests, and build a loyal following of their own to share their ideas, opinions, and creativity with the world.
However, the new app, unlike Twitter, does not have an edit button or a direct message (DM) feature. It is however superior in terms of word length – 500 counts; and video length of 5 minutes.
Chioma Kalu
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