The new Instagram social network, Threads, has reached the milestone of 70 million users in less than 48 hours since its launch. The platform has experienced a smooth rollout, remaining stable for the most part, and offers easy login—simply having an Instagram profile allows users to connect to the new service.
The concept behind Meta’s Threads is for people to share text-based posts, with a limit of 500 characters. According to the American website The Verge, there have been over 95 million posts registered on the platform in its initial moments. Threads has also garnered more than 190 million likes.
This new service has generated significant public interest, particularly with the competition from Elon Musk’s Twitter, adding further incentive for many people to try out this new trend.
However, only time will tell if this level of interest will be sustained in the coming weeks, as it’s not uncommon for other apps/platforms to ride the wave of hype and later fade into obscurity.
Exclusion from the European Union
Currently, one can only have a Threads account if they are already on Instagram. As a result, the user base for the new platform is limited to the total number of Instagram users, which surpassed 2 billion according to old data from 2021.
The Threads launch included users of Android and iPhone in over a hundred countries. However, there is a notable absence: residents of the European Union. Instagram chose not to release the tool in the bloc due to concerns about privacy and data handling. As a result, the potential user base is even lower, as the bloc is home to nearly 450 million inhabitants.
Conflict with Musk
The immediate success of Threads seems to bother its main competitor, Elon Musk. Lawyers representing Musk have reached out to Meta to complain about the hiring of former Twitter employees who allegedly had access to confidential information and trade secrets.
It’s worth noting, though, that Musk himself laid off about half of Twitter’s workforce shortly after taking over the company in 2022. Go figure…
