Instagram launches Threads, its new Twitter competitor, and it already has more than 5 million users

Instagram’s worst-kept secret has finally gone live—its new app Threads, the latest rival to Twitter, is now available to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. And apparently, it’s done so several hours ahead of schedule.

Threads is a separate app from Instagram but retains some links to its stablemate—users are able to import their Instagram profiles (including their handles and bio) and share their “threads” (as Threads calls “tweets”) to Instagram as posts or stories. If you’re verified on Instagram, your blue tick will even be ported over—a stark contrast to the controversial (and chaotic) implementation of Twitter Blue paid verification.

This interoperability is likely the reason why Threads has caught on so quickly—Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg threaded (I guess that’s how you say it?) that Threads surpassed five million signups in the first four hours. Speaking of which, Zuckerberg fired up his long-abandoned Twitter account to post this gem:

According to Meta, Threads is a “new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations,” although it’s still quite a barebones app. For instance, there’s no feed setting for just the accounts you follow; head of Instagram Adam Mosseri says the algorithm currently “ranks posts lightly” and shows recommendations in your feed. This, he adds, is “important for a new app before people follow enough accounts,” although he does go on to say that a follow-only feed setting is coming.

You also can’t edit threads, nor can you embed them in articles (which made writing this one a pain). And as users are currently pointing out, your Threads account is linked to your Instagram account and can only be deleted by deleting your entire Instagram account—something that feels a little bit Black Mirror if you ask me.

Still, there are some meaningful improvements over Twitter, like the fact you can create a thread 500 characters long and post videos up to five minutes long—all without paying a single cent. All your blocked accounts and hidden words will also be automatically carried over from Instagram, so you won’t have to set them up again.

What’s more, Threads will eventually integrate the ActivityPub decentralised protocol that Mastodon also runs on, and which Tumblr and WordPress also plan on adopting. This means that Thread accounts can be accessed by users of those federated services, and if you sign up for a new service, all your followers and the people you follow come with you, too.

Threads is poised to be the first genuine large-scale competitor to Twitter, and the default choice for people who have been alienated by Elon Musk’s control of the pre-eminent text-based social network.

Twitter has been haemorrhaging users after several faux pas by the billionaire, like charging users for verification, calling “cisgender” a slur and, most recently, setting a limit for how many posts an unverified user can read per day. Many have moved to apps like Mastodon and Bluesky, but Meta’s sheer might in particular will make it a formidable rival indeed.