On Monday, the new Threads app, developed by Facebook owner Meta to take on Twitter, became pre-orderable on the iPhone and Android app stores.
The new application, titled “Threads, an Instagram app,” is referred to in Apple’s app store as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app.” It is anticipated to go live in the next few days.
The app’s store description reads, “Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow.”
The debut of Thread comes amid a period of turbulence at Twitter since Tesla owner Elon Musk assumed control in October. The billionaire restructured the firm, let go of thousands of employees, and put many functions behind a paywall.
READ ALSO: Elon Musk Sets Daily Temporary Limits On Number Of Tweets Users Can Read
Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, said that it was developing a new social network in the middle of March, describing it as a potential rival to Twitter.
By using Threads, users may “connect directly with your favourite creators and others who share your interests — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world,” as stated in the app store description.
In a statement to AFP, the organisation said, “We’re considering a decentralised, independent social network for exchanging written messages in real time.”
Musk’s announcement last week that Twitter will cap the number of tweets users may see each day at 1,000 — the vast majority of users who do not pay for subscriptions — incited outrage.
The decision’s declared goal was to restrict how data from the social network may be used by outside parties, particularly businesses that feed artificial intelligence models.