6 things to know about Meta's Threads

The Twitter rival is gaining momentum

Image by No-longer-here from Pixabay (with added cat face and bird graphics)

Meta's new Twitter competitor, Threads, has experienced rapid growth since its public debut within its first full day (July 7 that is).

Here are six key points:

• The text-based social media app experienced 70 million sign-ups, 95 million posts and 190 million likes (based on internal company data).

• Many politicians and advertisers have already joined the platform, with a significant number of U.S. Congress members and Republican presidential candidates creating accounts.

• A tie-in with Instagram has contributed to Threads' initial success, enabling users to sign up with their existing Instagram handles and retain some of their following.

• Threads has not yet launched in Europe due to regulatory challenges.

• A lawyer working for Elon Musk accused Meta of "unlawful misappropriation" of trade secrets, but Meta denied any former Twitter employees being part of the Threads team.

• Advertisers may see Threads as a more brand-safe alternative to Twitter considering that Instagram's community guidelines will apply to the platform.