'Thread' Instagram and Twitter's competitor is about to launch

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has announced a new app to rival Twitter called Threads.

Threads is currently available for pre-order on Google Play and the App Store and looks like it is a blend between two of the biggest social media apps, Instagram and Twitter.

Users of Threads will be able to log in with the Instagram username and account come July 6, when the app goes live.

As Twitter is plagued with glitches and lags, one can assume the Meta app is intended to appeal to disenchanted Twitter users.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” reads the Thread app description.

“Whatever it is you're interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things.”

The move comes as many of Twitter’s 353 million users seek alternative platforms as Twitter owner Elon Musk limits the number of tweets a user can see each day.

Unverified accounts on Twitter can view up to 600 tweets per day. This number is 6,000 for verified accounts.

Musk took charge of Twitter in late 2022 and has since brought in such measures as the removal of blue verification ticks and an $8-month subscription to Twitter Blue.

From the app store, it appears no subscription will be required to access Meta’s Threads.

Meta, and by extension Threads, is owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg who co-founded Facebook back in 2004.

In response to the news about Threads, Musk commented on Twitter: “I’m sure the Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options."

“At least it will be ‘sane’. Was worried there for a moment,” Musk commented sarcastically.

Musk then went on to challenge Zuckerberg to a fight saying: “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”

While there have been rumours that the two tech geniuses will fight it out in the Colosseum, no official date or location has been confirmed.

And if the fight does go ahead, it seems viewers will now have to choose between posting their memes about the event on either Twitter or Threads.