Meta launches its rival app Threads as it takes aim at Twitter

This photo, taken in New York on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, show the logo for Meta's new app Threads, right, and that of Twitter.(Richard Drew/AP)

Richard Drew / Richard Drew

Meta unveiled an app to rival Twitter on Wednesday, appearing to target users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk.

Called Threads, the new offering is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.”

The app went live just after midnight Wednesday in the U.K. in Apple and Google Android app stores in more than 100 countries including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Early celebrity users include chef Gordon Ramsay, the pop star Shakira and Mark Hoyle, better known as the YouTuber LadBaby.