Threads, Instagram's Twitter-like social media network, hits 30 million users on its first day even though it kinda sucks right now

pcgamer.com:

Threads, the new Twitter-like social network from Instagram/Facebook/Meta, went live yesterday afternoon, and it's already off to a hell of a start. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said via his own Threads account that the platform racked up 30 million signups in its first 24 hours.

That number is just a fraction of the estimated 350+ million monthly active Twitter users there are, but it's a clear indication of interest in an alternative to Elon Musk's bottomless pit of foolishness and bungling. Threads' opening-day figure excludes a whole region, the  European Union, where Threads currently isn't available: Instagram boss Adam Mosseri told The Verge that it's holding off on releasing Threads in the EU because of «the complexities with complying with some of the laws coming into effect next year.» That's presumably a reference to the EU's new Digital Markets Act, which will impose more stringent regulatory requirements on Google, Amazon, Apple, TikTok, Meta, Microsoft, and Samsung.

There are two obvious reasons for Threads' immediate success: reach and ease of use. Mastodon is a tech-tangled pain in the ass, and access to Bluesky is tightly limited by its invitation system: You can't get in unless you know somebody who's already onboard. But all you need for Threads is residence in an eligible country and an Instagram account. And it's Zuck—it's Facebook! Or Instagram, for the slightly younger crowd (ie, not me). That's unparalleled brand recognition and a built-in audience that just is not available to anyone else.

So Threads came out strong and didn't implode—but is it good? Well, no. It works, and that gives it at least a transient leg up on Twitter, but it's also extremely bare-bones. There's no direct messaging or