There have already been ten million people who have signed up to Meta’s latest social media app Threads, according to boss Mark Zuckerberg.

The app, which is Meta’s own version of Twitter launched today (July 6) and people can create an account by using their Instagram login.

From there, accounts that you follow on Instagram will automatically show up as they join Threads.

How does Threads work and is it a new Twitter rival?

On the app, you can send posts with a limit of 500 characters, which can include images, gifs, and videos of up to five minutes in length.

It has been designed to look similar to Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk, with short text-based pieces of content, likes and reposts.

Users can also quote a thread, just like quoting a tweet.

Can you send DMs on Threads?

Although Threads is the latest social media app developed by a global technology company, there is currently no way to send a direct message (DM).

This tends to be a big feature on the likes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter but it is yet to be available.

One new account on Threads, posted: “A bit gobsmacked there’s no DM function at all???? Surely that’s a huge oversight.”

This person replied: “wait what... that's pretty odd. is it going the youtube route?”

Another said: “Omg? I didn’t even notice? Also love that you’re in my feed already.”

“Pretty standard in the Fediverse tbh it’ll get there eventually,” wrote a user.

Millions of people have already joined Threads

Posting on the app under the username zuck and using a mind blown emoji, Zuckerberg said: “10 million sign up in seven hours.”

He said earlier: “I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”

The new app is the latest chapter in the rivalry between Mr Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in October.

Last month, the pair – two of the world’s most high-profile billionaires – agreed to take each other on in a cage fight in an exchange that went viral on social media.