Headlines:

• Twitter’s Meta-owned rival Threads was launched on 6th July and gained 50 million users on its first day.
• Threads will support decentralized web and social media, crediting its association with ActivityPub.
• Elon Musk has voiced his opinions on wanting to sue Threads for “copying” Twitter.

Meta’s answer to Twitter – Threads – is clearly intended to be a direct rival to Twitter, which had no significant rivals so far. The Threads app was finally launched for Android smartphones and iPhones on the 6th of July. By the end of the day, it had a total of 30 million users – a new record.

Threads, as of now, pose a big threat to the declining popularity and user base of Twitter. Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter for $4 billion, he has been making radical changes that ultimately upset everyone. 

From limiting the number of Tweets you can view (discriminated on your verification status) and allowing you to pay to get a Verified badge, users wish to jump ship to some other platform. Now, Meta seems to have an answer in the form of Threads.

Threads is the so-called new “Twitter killer” that functions in a very similar way. It’s a conversation-based app that requires you to log in with your Instagram account. Therefore, you can call it the text and conversion promoting a companion to Instagram’s picture-based posts.

However, due to its similarities with Twitter, Elon Musk has stated that Threads is a “Twitter clone” and that Meta is a “Twitter copycat.” Elon’s lawyer has already sent a legal notice to Mark Zuckerberg, which states that

Elon Musk has also tweeted that “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” This comes after the revelation of the fact Meta apparently hired many ex-Twitter employees to build this app – ex-employees who knew various trade secrets of Twitter.