'Twitter Challenger' Thread Reaches 70 Million Subscribers... Even Zuckerberg Didn't Expect It

70 Million Users Joined in Just a Day and a Half Since Launch
Service Not Yet Available in EU Region... Could Increase Further

The number of subscribers to 'Threads,' a new social media (SNS) platform launched by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has surpassed 70 million.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated on his Threads account on the 7th (local time), "As of this morning, 70 million people have joined Threads," adding, "This far exceeds our expectations."

This milestone was reached just a day and a half after its release on the afternoon of the 5th. Threads surpassed 30 million subscribers within 16 hours of launch and then more than doubled that number within another 20 hours.

Not only has the number of subscribers increased, but usage has also become very active. As of the previous afternoon, the number of posts approached 100 million, and the number of 'likes' reached 200 million.

Many celebrities, including Microsoft (MS) co-founder Bill Gates and broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, as well as numerous U.S. politicians, have opened Threads accounts.

The U.S. online media Axios reported, "As of the previous evening, more than one in four members of the U.S. Congress, both Senate and House, have created Threads accounts, and six Republican presidential candidates along with senior White House officials have also joined."

Accessing the 'Seuredeu' app
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Threads is a text-based SNS targeting Twitter. Zuckerberg wrote on his Threads, "There is a need for a public conversation app used by over 1 billion people," adding, "Twitter has not achieved that, but we hope we can."

Twitter had 237.8 million users as of July last year. Threads has caught up to about one-third of Twitter's user base in just a day and a half since its launch.

Threads was built based on Meta's popular platform Instagram. Users can easily log in with just an Instagram account. Jasmine Enberg, senior analyst at market research firm Insider Intelligence, said, "If only one in four of the 2 billion Instagram users join, Threads could grow as large as Twitter."

Moreover, the service in the European Union (EU) region is currently on hold. Threads, which shares information with Instagram, may violate the EU's Digital Markets Act, which prohibits the combination of personal data across different platforms.

The EU introduced this law to prevent the abuse of market dominance by major platform operators. Violations of the Digital Markets Act can result in fines of up to 10% of annual global revenue. For repeated violations, the rate increases to 20%.

Meta has stated, "There are currently no plans to offer Threads services in the EU," but if this issue is resolved, the number of Threads subscribers is expected to increase further.