Mark Zuckerberg takes dig at Elon Musk after new Twitter rival sees millions of sign-ups
Mark Zuckerberg couldn't resist taking a swift dig at Elon Musk after his new app to rival Twitter received millions of sign-ups.
They might be having 'serious' discussions about a physical fight, according to UFC's Dana White, but that clearly hasn't stopped Zuckerberg from throwing out a few verbal jabs while he has the chance.
The Facebook founder has recently launched a new app, Threads, which rivals Musk's Twitter with many similar features.
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Musk acquired Twitter in a billion-dollar deal last year, but in recent months has sparked controversy with changes like paying for verification, and limiting the amount of tweets visible to users who don't pay to use the app.
Similar to Twitter, Threads allows users to share posts with up to 500 characters, engage with other users by liking, replying and sharing posts, and talk privately through DM.
Through its place in the larger Meta system, users can also keep the same username and follow the same accounts as they do on Zuckerberg's other app, Instagram.
Ahead of the launch, Meta said: "Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text."
Zuckerberg has previously said that keeping Threads 'friendly' will 'ultimately be the key to its success', but Musk has scoffed at the notion of keeping things friendly as he tweeted: "It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram."
Still, millions of people are obviously willing to give Threads a try, as Zuckerberg said it secured more than five million sign-ups within four hours of launching.
Amid the release of the app, Zuckerberg threw some shade towards Musk after he was asked whether it would be 'bigger than Twitter'.
He said: "It'll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it.
"Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will."
Threads is available to download in more than 100 countries, including the UK, but it's not yet been released in the EU due to regulatory concerns.
Only time will tell whether Threads proves to be more successful than Twitter, but Musk still seems keen to prove his power over Zuckerberg in a physical fight after he first suggested a 'cage match' last month.
In the wake of the challenge, Zuckerberg told Musk to 'send [him the] location' for the fight, sparking conversations between the pair and UFC president, Dana White.
If Threads continues to succeed, Musk will likely only be more fired up if the pair do end up going head-to-head.
Topics: Elon Musk, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Threads
Emily Brown