11 Important Things To Know About Twitter-Rival Threads

In a matter of just seven hours, Meta's Twitter-rival app Threads has earned 10 million sign ups.

"Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks," the company wrote in a blog post.

11 Important Things Everyone Should Know About Threads

• Threads is a text-based version of Meta's photo-sharing app Instagram.
• It is available in more than 100 countries including the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan.
• Netzens can download the app from Google Play or Apple App Store.
• One place Threads won't be rolled out is in the European Union, which has strict data privacy rules. Meta has informed Ireland's Data Privacy Commission that it has no plans yet to launch Threads in the 27-nation bloc, commission spokesman Graham Doyle said. The Irish watchdog is Meta's main privacy regulator for the EU because the company's regional headquarters is based in Dublin.
• Posts are limited to 500 characters, which is more than Twitter's 280-character threshold, and can include links, photos and videos up to five minutes long.
• Instagram users will be able to log in with their existing usernames and follow the same accounts on the new app. New users will have to set up an Instagram account.
• Anybody over 12 years of age can use Threads.
• The app will be available in 31 languages including Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
• It will be available to anyone aged 12 and over in 31 different languages, including English, Traditional Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
• At this stage, there is no mention of any charges to use the app. Meta launched paid verification service for Instagram and Facebook. This service might be rolled out in future for the users of Threads.
• Meta's new offering, however, has raised data privacy concerns. Threads could collect a wide range of personal information, including health, financial, contacts, browsing and search history, location data, purchases and "sensitive info", according to its data privacy disclosure on the App Store.