Meta 'Threads' Launch Sparks Wave of Memes, Jokes

Facebook owner Meta has officially launched Threads, a new text-based public conversation app that appears designed to rival Twitter.

Threads went live on Wednesday, with creator Mark Zuckerberg taking to the new platform to reveal that they had had "10 million sign up in seven hours."

Several notable names have already joined the platform including pop star Shakira and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. The new Threads app is connected to Instagram, meaning people with pre-existing logins for the photo-based social media platform can join with little to no fuss.

What's most notable though is the timing of the new app's arrival. Threads boasts a noticeably similar interface to that of Twitter and, much like the Elon Musk-owned platform, allows users to post, repost and send messages.

More importantly, it comes at a time when Musk is facing increased criticism for his approach to running Twitter. The most recent came in the wake of Musk's announcement that he would be introducing limits to the amount of posts users can read.

He also announced plans to limit TweetDeck, a popular application for the management of Twitter accounts, to paying subscribers on the platform.

Whether the arrival of Threads spells the beginning of the end remains to be seen, but the new Meta-backed rival is proving a hot topic of discussion on Twitter, with users sharing memes, jokes and notable observations in the wake of the app's launch.

Zuckerberg himself was among those weighing in, with the Meta founder tweeting out the familiar meme of two identical Spider-Men pointing at one another. The post appears to be his first on Twitter in over a decade.

Musk, meanwhile, responded with a tweet taking aim at Instagram rather than Threads directly. "It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram," he tweeted.

Away from the head honchos, Threads was the talking point of the day. At the time of writing, the topic had generated more than 2.38 million tweets.

Tech entrepreneur Nazar Gulyk appeared to welcome the new arrival with a familiar meme featuring rapper Drake.

Another felt it signaled the death knell for Twitter.

Others like Joe Potkins were worried about a potential crossover between people they knew from Twitter and people they knew from Instagram and decided to enlist an old Tyra Banks clip to illustrate the potential problem.

Some like the Twitter user Hencubed found Threads to be a lonely place, as they waited for people to follow them back in a situation that called to mind a memorable scene from the Netflix series Narcos.

Vishal Verma also riffed on a Family Guy bit lampooning the Bible story of Noah's Ark to explain how Threads was essentially a bizarre mix of both Twitter and Instagram.

Others were unimpressed though, with one user, SymbioticPotato, claiming Threads was just "Instagram 'entrepreneurs' and corporate marketing tactics."

Another user, Ayiick, appeared to be fed up at the excessive number of social media apps today.

"Me right now," they tweeted alongside an image of multiple app icons.

Several Twitter accounts, including Meme Canteen, meanwhile, remained convinced Threads users would come flocking back—and found the perfect video to demonstrate just that.

"Everyone running back to Twitter after trying Threads App for 5 min," they tweeted.

In fact, that became something of a running theme in the response.

There was even a Simpsons meme, because no discussion on the internet can go without a Simpsons reference.

But while much of the Twitter discussion was dominated by lighthearted memes, a couple of eagle-eyed users highlighted a potential flaw with the platform.

Journalist Fisayo Fosudo highlighted that deactivating your Threads account also deactivates your profile on Instagram.

Horror writer Emily Hughes also took to Twitter to express similar concerns.

"I deactivated my threads account already but it turns out you can't delete your threads account *without also deleting your Instagram account* so maybe just don't sign up!" she tweeted.

A spokesperson for Meta told Newsweek: "At this time, you can't delete your Threads profile without deleting your Instagram account. This is something we're working on. In the meantime, you can deactivate your Threads profile at any time. Deactivating your Threads profile will not deactivate your Instagram account. If you deactivate your Threads profile, your posts and interactions with others' posts won't be visible on Threads unless you reactivate it."