Meta is seeing early success with more than 100 million downloads less than one week after it launched. EPA
Meta is seeing early success with more than 100 million downloads less than one week after it launched. EPA
Meta is seeing early success with more than 100 million downloads less than one week after it launched. EPA
Meta is seeing early success with more than 100 million downloads less than one week after it launched. EPA

Threads passes 100 million users in less than a week


Cody Combs
  • English
  • Arabic

In less than one week, Meta's newest social media platform, Threads, has managed to amass 100 million users around the world.

Downloads of the app have broken the previous record set by AI tool ChatGPT, which took two months to cross the 100 million user mark, according to AFP, citing data tracking websites.

Though this is impressive in terms of how quickly Threads accumulated 100 million users, for perspective, Facebook has about 2.9 billion users and Instagram, also owned by Meta, has 2 billion, according to Statista, a provider of market and consumer data.

As for the platform that many say is the chief rival of Threads, Twitter, various data sets show that it has 300 to 500 million users, leaving a large chasm for Threads to close.

Several days before Threads reached the 100 million user mark, Twitter chief executive Linda Yaccarino tweeted a thinly veiled reference to its newest competitor.

“We're often imitated – but the Twitter community can never be duplicated,” she wrote. “You built the Twitter community, and that's irreplaceable.”

Other responses from Twitter regarding Threads have not been so subtle.

Less than 48 hours after Threads went live, Twitter lawyers sent a letter to Meta alleging “wilful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property”.

The interfaces of Twitter and Threads do bear a striking resemblance, but court precedent in the US provides more of a grey area in terms of how successful Twitter might be if it chooses to litigate.

Litigation could take years and drain valuable resources from Elon Musk's X Corp, owner of Twitter.

Meta's Threads launched on July 6, and within the first hours of its availability, secured more than 5 million users and dominated much of the attention from tech pundits and social media prognosticators.

Threads owed a lot of its initial success to its integration into another Meta social media platform, Instagram, which made it easy for users to quickly create accounts, and perhaps more importantly, allow users to follow accounts they already followed on Instagram.

“We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations,” read an email provided by Meta shortly after the debut of Threads.

“Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to five minutes in length.”

The real challenge for Threads, as is the case with many social media platforms, will be whether or not there's sustained user interest.

Google+ was launched in 2011 as a competitor to Facebook and amassed approximately 200 million users, but user engagement stalled, and the platform was shuttered several years later.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, hinted at the potential difficulty in the months ahead shortly after Threads launched, despite the surge in sign-ups.

“The real test is not if we can build up a lot of hype, but if you all find enough value in the app to keep using it over time,” he posted to the Threads platform.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
HOW TO WATCH

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday

Second leg

Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm

Game is on BeIN Sports

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

UAE cricketers abroad

Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.

Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.

Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Match info

Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')

Southampton 0

UAE finals day

Friday, April 13
Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Brief scores:

Everton 2

Walcott 21', Sigurdsson 51'

Tottenham 6

Son 27', 61', Alli 35', Kane 42', 74', Eriksen 48'​​​​​​​

Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)

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Who has been sanctioned?

Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.

Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.

Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.

Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.

RESULT

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal:
Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87') 

While you're here
Venom

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

Rating: 1.5/5

RESULTS

5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Sean Kirrane (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)

5.30pm: Falaj Hazza – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Arim W’Rsan, Dane O’Neill, Jaci Wickham

6pm: Al Basrah – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Kalifano De Ghazal, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi

6.30pm: Oud Al Touba – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Pharitz Oubai, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

7pm: Sieh bin Amaar – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Oxord, Richard Mullen, Abdalla Al Hammadi

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: AF Ramz, Sean Kirrane, Khalifa Al Neyadi

8pm: Al Saad – Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Sea Skimmer, Gabriele Malune, Kareem Ramadan

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dooda%20Solutions%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lebanon%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENada%20Ghanem%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AgriTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24300%2C000%20in%20equity-free%20funding%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2011%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Film: In Syria
Dir: Philippe Van Leeuw
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Bo Abboud, Mohsen Abbas and Juliette Navis
Verdict: Four stars

Look%20Both%20Ways
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Wanuri%20Kahiu%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Lili%20Reinhart%2C%20Danny%20Ramirez%2C%20David%20Corenswet%2C%20Luke%20Wilson%2C%20Nia%20Long%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: July 10, 2023, 10:38 PM`