- Meta's new app Threads was launched on July 6 as a competitor to Twitter.
- Mark Zuckerberg revived his Twitter account after a decade to post a meme about the app's arrival.
Meta's answer to Twitter has finally arrived in the form of an app called Threads.
Buzz around the new platform, which launched on July 6, has been amplified by recent disruptions to the Twitter user experience after Elon Musk announced the temporary introduction of "rate limits," which put a cap on the number of posts users could read, citing "extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation" from AI companies as the reason for the measures.
More than 10 million people signed up for Threads in its first seven hours of being launched, according to a post from Mark Zuckerberg on the app, and some people on social media have been speculating on whether Threads could potentially replace Twitter in light of growing dissatisfaction with the app under Elon Musk.
Jokes about the rivalry between Threads and Twitter have been sprouting up all over social media today, particularly because of a June tweet from Musk challenging Zuckerberg to a real-life cage match, sparking speculation and an increasing number of internet jokes about a feud between the two tech moguls.
Some users have said that Zuckerberg, whose recent efforts at competing in jiu-jitsu tournaments have stirred up a renewed interest in his life and reputation, has delivered a searing blow to Musk with his unveiling of Threads, and people are now using memes to commentate on and hype up the online drama.
Zuckerberg revived his own Twitter account after a decade of not posting to share a meme about the launch of Threads
—Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) July 6, 2023
Zuckerberg posted the famous Spider-Man-pointing-at-Spider-Man meme on Twitter late Wednesday night, which has been interpreted as referencing the similarity that Threads bears to Twitter.
It's been viewed more than 15.7 million times at the time of writing. Zuckerberg's last tweet before then was on January 18, 2012.
Other users are now referencing the Zuckerberg-Musk fight rumors in their posts about the Threads launch, on the Threads app
People are envisioning the stress they think Musk might be feeling right now
Memes about the death of Twitter are also starting to spread on both platforms
—i@m•Satya (@TechGen18) July 6, 2023
—̷̷̷ (@Theylovelus) July 6, 2023
Meanwhile, loyal Twitter fans are making their own memes about staying put
—Cephas (@CephasIsaacOgu) July 6, 2023
—Tessa (@Tessicat) July 4, 2023
—Shubham (@driiiiiizy) July 6, 2023
And some people are just overwhelmed by the new choices about where to spend their scrolling time
—kira (@kirawontmiss) July 6, 2023
— (@yourfavmemes_) July 6, 2023
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.