Twitter competitor Threads officially launched by Meta

Facebook’s parent company Meta officially launched Threads, its text-based Twitter competitor, on Wednesday.

Built by the Instagram team, the new app aims to provide a platform for real-time online conversations and sharing text updates.

“Just passed 5 million sign ups in the first four hours,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Threads account.

In the first two hours, the figure was around 2 million people.

According to the company, posts can be up to 500 characters in length and can include links, photos and videos that are up to 5 minutes long.

"We are working toward making Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet," it said.

In a Threads post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new app's vision is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation.

"We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind," he wrote.

The Threads app is available in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android.