What is Threads, and how does it work?

Buckle up, Twitter. Threads is here. 

On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Instagram-powered, text-based app. With its premise of “sharing text updates and joining public conversations" netizens the world over believe Threads is poised to be yet another Twitter competitor.

If you’ve been a long-time user of Twitter, it's easy to get the hang of it. Threads lets you you create an account based on your Instagram, where you can post texts up to 500 characters long. You may also post links, photos, and videos up to five minutes in length.

“Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas,” Instagram wrote in its blog announcement.

“You can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond,” it added.

According to Mark, more than five million people have already signed up with the new app in less than four hours since its launching, and quickly ballooned to a whopping 10M in seven hours.

Meanwhile, AFP reports that app went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries — minus Europe — at 11pm on Wednesday, and will run with no ads for now.

Threads now joins the likes of Mastodon, Bluesky, and Substack Notes in angling for what people call the next Twitter.

Threads is available to download for free on the App Store.

— LA, GMA Integrated News