Instagram’s Threads Аpp Reaches 100 Million Users in 5 Days

Instagram’s new text-based app, Threads, is the first app in history to reach 100 million users in just five days after its July 5 launch. The app, available on iOS and Android, is available in more than 100 countries.

For reference, one of the fastest-growing apps of all time, ChatGPT, needed two months to reach this number. It took TikTok nine months to attract 100 million users, while Instagram reached this milestone in two and a half years.

But unlike those apps, Threads didn’t start from scratch – it received direct access to 1.6 billion Instagram users. Anyone with an existing Instagram account in one of the supported countries can sign up with their Instagram username. Instagram followers are automatically imported into the new account.

On Threads, users can create text posts of up to 500 characters and enrich them with links, photos, and video clips. The app features a Threads and Replies feature. It also allows users to explore posts on their home feed, search for other users, and receive notifications.

Meta’s idea is to make Threads a decentralized app compatible with open social networks. This will enable Threads to interact with other apps that support the ActivityPub protocol, something that is still not possible on most social media apps. Some of the benefits include the freedom to stop using Threads and transfer the content to another social platform and interact with Threads as a non-user. To access these benefits, users must have a public Threads profile.

Some users expressed concerns over the amount of data Threads collects. This could be the reason Threads is not available within European Union countries. The EU recently fined Meta $1.3 billion for transferring personal citizen data to the US. Another concern is the inability to delete a Threads account. Deactivation is possible, but the only way to delete Threads is to delete the Instagram account used to access Threads.

Twitter isn’t happy with Threads’ rapid growth. The company accused Meta of “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation” of Twitter’s trade secrets, IP, and data in a cease-and-desist letter Elon Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent to Zuckerberg.

“Competition is fine, cheating is not,” Elon Musk tweeted, calling out Meta for hiring former Twitter employees to gain access to Twitter’s trade secrets and use them for Threads’ advantage.