Instagram launches 'Twitter killer' Threads text app
Instagram has launched Threads, its short-posting text app, as Meta (NASDAQ:META) chief Mark Zuckerberg takes on Elon Musk and a reeling Twitter (TWTR).
After signaling a launch expected for Thursday morning, with preorder links set up only for the iOS Threads app, Meta released its app Wednesday evening on Apple's App Store as well as an Android app for Google Play.
"Let's do this," Zuckerberg said. "Welcome to Threads."
As with Twitter, users can post short text and links, as well as repost messages from others and reply to posts. Threads users can use their existing Instagram usernames to bring information over, including lists of followers.
The timing of the launch is fortuitous for Meta Platforms (META), as recent technical changes at Twitter (TWTR) from owner Elon Musk have frustrated some longtime users of the platform.
A rate-limit feature restricting how many posts users could view on Twitter left a number of Twitter's features broken -- and Musk also directed that users could no longer view tweets without being logged in to the service themselves.
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