NEW YORK — Threads users, get happy – you will finally be able to use the social media platform without an app.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Threads post on Tuesday morning that a web version of the app will be rolling out over the next few days.
Meta’s new app Threads is displayed on a smartphone in New York on July 6. Richard Drew/Associated Press
The move will allow the nascent platform, dubbed the “Twitter Killer,” better compete with Elon Musk’s platform, which is now called X.
Meta spokesperson Christine Pai said in a statement that the new logged-in web experience will let users post, view their feeds and interact with other posts from their desktops. And that the team is working to “bring this experience to parity with mobile and will be adding more functionality to the web experience in the coming weeks.”
Since it burst into the scene in early July, Threads has amassed a massive initial user base, including well-known celebrities and brands, precisely because it is an expansion of Instagram.
The app gives Instagram users the option to automatically follow the same accounts they do on the photo-sharing app, which makes it easier for them to replicate a similar type of engagement on Threads. Popular online content creators, such as YouTuber MrBeast – whose actual name is Jimmy Donaldson – have joined the app. But while many popular internet celebrities rushed to sign up, it’s not clear how many of them are returning regularly.
Company executives acknowledged earlier on that work on the app was still needed and that it was missing important features, such as direct messaging and an ability to search for content. The app still doesn’t have some of those features, but it has rolled out other updates in recent weeks, like an option to see posts in chronological order.
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