Threads now on web version as rivalry intensifies with Musk's Twitter

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram said that Threads is now live on its web version, as it was only available for mobile phone users until now, as Meta attempted to attract a number of users who have been scrambling for a better platform than Elon Musk's Twitter. 

Meta-owned new social media platform has posed a grave challenge to the tech billionaire Musk's Twitter — now called X — as it attracted millions of users on its launch. With a new web version, the rivalry of both platforms has entered into a new round. 

Mosseri — who is also leading Threads — wrote on his Instagram post: "Threads.net is now live for everyone. This is definitely one of the most requested features over the last few weeks. Still, plenty more to do to make the experience more complete, but wanted to get something simple out there sooner rather than later. Let us know what you think."

Separately, a spokesperson from Meta said: "The Threads team is working hard to bring this experience to parity with mobile, and will be adding more functionality to the web experience in the coming weeks."

Millions of users have been furious over controversial decisions by Elon Musk — who bought Twitter last year for $44 billion.

This new venture may be a success for Meta as it would be able to attract professionals and media types who are the most active users of social media and post mainly from their computers during working hours.

The rival to X was rushed out in early July by Meta, which invited its more than a billion Instagram users to download the app.

By this, Threads became the fastest-downloaded app ever, crushing the previous record held by artificial intelligence-powered (AI) ChatGPT.

However, the initial excitement did not last, with usage by the early adopters falling steadily ever since and users calling out for a web version of the app and other tweaks.

Many of the celebrities who were given the privilege of early access to Threads — such as Jennifer Lopez or American Football star Tom Brady — have posted only rarely.

X — which was brought by the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla — still dominates as the platform for comment and news, but the chaos endured at the platform since the 52-year-old took over last year eroded its success and sent users seeking alternatives.

One measure of users, by the company Similarweb, showed that daily active users on the Android version of Threads dropped to 10.3 million from the peak of 49.3 million.

In the week of the Threads launch early last month, Meta CEO Zuckerberg cautioned the app would "take time to stabilise, but once we nail that then we'll focus on growing the community."

Threads is not available in Europe because parent company Meta is unsure how to navigate the European Union's data privacy legislation.