Millions have signed up for Meta’s new social network, called Threads

Tens of millions of people rushed to open accounts on Topics, the new social network created by Meta to compete with Twitter, in a sign that users are looking for an alternative to the platform that has undergone a series of unwanted changes since its launch. Elon Musk.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that 30 million people have signed up for the app, 10 million of them in the first seven hours of its launch on Wednesday in the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan, a hundred countries in total.

Threads is described as a text version of Instagram, the Meta photo app, which the company says provides “a separate new space for public conversations and real-time updates.”

Instagram users can connect with their existing username and follow the same accounts on the new app, giving threads a ready audience and an edge over other Twitter competitors like Bluesky and Mastodon.

The excitement among Themes users was palpable, as they see it as an opportunity to start over with a new social network, creating a “first day at school” atmosphere.

Among the early adopters are celebrities such as pop star Shakira, actor Jack Black, and chef Gordon Ramsay, as well as Airbnb, Guinness World Records, Netflix, Vogue magazine and other media outlets.

There was no shortage of glitches and annoyances over the lack of a chronological thread and complaints about the lack of some features, so one wonders if the initial enthusiasm will lead to sustained growth capable of truly challenging Twitter.

“It’s possible that the euphoria over the new service and the initial explosion has taken its toll,” said Paolo Pescatore, a technical analyst at BB Foresight. “But this new alternative appears to be here to stay and would be a worthy contender, given the issues Twitter is experiencing.”