Meta's Twitter rival 'Threads' now live, crosses 2mn sign-ups in two hours

Meta's Twitter rival, Threads, is now available for download on Android and iOS in 100 countries, and has crossed two million sign-ups in just two hours after it was launched.

"Threads is a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations," Meta said in a blogpost on Wednesday.

"You log in using your Instagram account and posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length."

The company is also planning to integrate the ActivityPub protocol -- the open social networking protocol -- on the new platform.

"This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress, allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today."

Similar to Instagram, with Threads users can follow and connect with friends and creators who share their interests, including the people they follow on Instagram.

Moreover, users under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join the app.

Users can also control who can mention them or reply to them within Threads.

Like on Instagram, users can add hidden words to filter out replies to their threads that contain specific words.

They can also unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts they have blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.

In an announcement on his Threads account on Thursday, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: "Threads just passed 2 million sign-ups in the first two hours."

In a separate Instagram post, he said: "Our vision is to take the best parts of Instagram and create a new experience for text, ideas, and discussing what's on your mind. I think the world needs this kind of friendly community, and I’m grateful to all of you who are part of Threads from day one."