Meta (Facebook) founder Mark Zuckerberg has launched his new social media network Threads, which is seen as a competitor to Elon Musk's Twitter.
Zuckerberg welcomed users to the site by writing "Welcome to Threads" on Thursday.
In a separate post on Instagram, he said the world needs a friendly community like Threads and thanked users who have been a part of the social media since day one.
Seen as a text-based version of Instagram, the app will be available in over 100 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
The European Union is not included because Meta is still in negotiations with regulators on how to manage data sharing between the app and Instagram.
The launch has been called the 'Twitter killer' by some technology analysts who are seen as a direct challenge to Musk who has faced strong criticism from users for his management of the leading platform.
Following the Threads launch, Meta shares rose 1% in extended trading after gaining nearly 3% at the close of the New York session.
