Zuckerberg looks to hit Musk with Twitter clone

Neta Platforms plans to release a microblogging app called Threads, a new product that is expected to hit the market Thursday, days after Twitter owner Elon Musk announced new strictures that will limit how many posts users see on that platform.

- Salvador Rodriguez

Social-media veterans and analysts see the planned app as a formidable competitor for Twitter, which has faced falling revenue and other challenges since Musk took over the company in October.

Meta, like other tech giants, has a record of copying features of competitors' platforms and implementing them into its own services. The company is expected to build the microblogging app off its Instagram user base, a strategic maneuver that may help the app quickly gain traction.

The app, which is listed on Apple's App Store and described as "expected" on Thursday, will allow users to keep their Instagram username.

The competition between the two companies comes as Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Musk publicly discussed the possibility of physically fighting each other.

Twitter didn't comment.

Since Musk's takeover of Twitter in October, many Twitter users have voiced that they want an alternative. Over the past nine months, the company has experienced numerous technical issues, removed thousands of employees, lost users and advertisers, and was criticized for how the service moderates content. Musk last week took steps to limit how many posts users can see on the platform, saying he wanted to combat "extreme levels of data scraping."

Startups such as Mastodon, Truth Social and Bluesky have gained users but have yet to emerge as a true rival to Twitter.