"Let's Do This' Zuckerberg Makes First Post On Threads

With Twitter already on the ropes, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg delivered another blow to Elon Musk on Wednesday, ramping up the tech billionaires' rivalry with the launch of Instagram's much-anticipated companion service Threads, a challenger to Twitter..

Reuters reports much like Twitter, the app features short text posts that users can like, re-post and reply to, although it does not include any direct message capabilities. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long, according to a Meta blog post.

It is available in more than 100 countries on both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, the blog post said. Threads is free, although to get a blue tick next of your name you'll have to be subscribed to Meta Verified, the per month subscription service. 

Analysts said investors were salivating over the possibility that Threads' ties to Instagram might give it a built-in user base and advertising apparatus. That could siphon ad dollars from Twitter at a time when the microblogging company's new CEO is trying to revive its struggling business.

While Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, potentially making it an easy addition to existing habits for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads' arrival comes after Zuckerberg and Musk have traded barbs for months and even threatened to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, but its value has since plummeted as it faced an exodus of advertisers amid deep staffing cuts and content moderation controversies. Its latest move involved limiting the number of tweets users can read per day.

Zuckerberg, in subsequent Threads posts, addressed those challenges. "I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will," he wrote.

Brands like Billboard, HBO, NPR and Netflix had accounts set up within minutes of launch, as did celebrities like Shakira and other well-known personalities such as former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.