News

Ten Million Join Twitter Rival, Threads After Seven Hours Of Launch

Published

11 months ago

July 6, 2023

Editor

Ten million users across the globe except the European Union states have signed up for Meta’s newly launched Threads app in its first seven hours.

This was revealed by the company’s chief Mark Zuckerberg as he said he pitched the app as a “friendly” rival to Twitter, which was bought by Elon Musk in October.

Speaking about the launch of Threads, Zuckerberg said keeping the platform “friendly… will ultimately be the key to its success”.

When asked on Threads whether the app will be “bigger than Twitter”, Mr Zuckerberg said: “It’ll take some time, but 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.”

Vanguard reports that the app attracted five million sign-ups in its first four hours of operation.

Zuckerberg disclosed that his company sought to attract users from Elon Musk’s troubled platform through an offer of lengthier posts.

According to the Guardian UK, the Facebook and Instagram owner brought forward the app’s debut by 15 hours to 7:00 pm on Wednesday in the United States and Thursday midnight in the United Kingdom.

The inauguration of the app was freely available in 100 countries on the Apple and Google app stores, but regulatory concerns have revealed that it will not be available in the European Union (EU).

Brands such as Billboard, HBO, NPR and Netflix had accounts set up within minutes of launch. Meta said initial celebrity backers included Shakira and Gordon Ramsay, with a recent report suggesting that Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama had also been approached.

Thread users will need an Instagram account to log in. Once they have signed up, they can choose to follow the same accounts they follow on Instagram, if they too have joined the new app.

The app closely resembles Twitter visually, although some of the wording has been changed, with retweets called “reposts” and tweets called “threads”.

Meta has not been averse to copying rival products in the past, including the 2020 launch of Instagram’s Reels feature, noted for its similarity to TikTok’s short-form videos.

Posts on Threads can be 500 characters long, compared with 280 for most Twitter users, and videos of up to five minutes in length can be posted while a post can be shared as a link on other platforms. Users can unfollow, block, restrict or report others. Users can also filter out replies with certain words in them.

Reaction to the debut on Wednesday ranged from caution to enthusiasm, many praising its ease of use and some saying that Elon Musk should be worried.

Others pointed out the app’s speedy integration with Instagram showed just how powerful Meta has become. Much of the conversation, ironically, took place on Twitter, where the hashtag “Threads” was trending on Wednesday evening.

News

Bauchi Commissioner Gifts 3 Students Cash For Prompt Resumption, Ability To Read

Published

8 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Editor

The Bauchi state Commissioner for Education, Dr Jamila Dahiru, on Thursday, gave a cash gift of N5,000 each to three Senior Secondary II students of Government Science Secondary School, Misau for their determination to succeed in Education.

Two of the students, Adamu Adamu, Mustapha and Haruna impressed the commissioner for their presence in school in the first day of resumption while Abdullahi Musa marvelled her for his reading ability and comprehension.

According to the commissioner, the gesture was to appreciate their determination to learn as well and motivate other students to emulate them.

While paying a courtesy visit to the Emir of Misau, Alh. Ahmed Sulaiman, the commissioner disclosed that the Bauchi State government was working with stakeholders from the Misau Emirate to fine-tune modalities of temporarily accommodating the students of Federal Science Technical College, Misau at its Science Secondary School Misau.

She said the college made the request in a letter to the ministry stating that the facility given to them could no longer accommodate their students population, hence the resolve to convene the stakeholders meeting to fine-tune ways of sharing the facility for the betterment of the state.

She disclosed that government science secondary school Misau, one of the best in the state in terms of befitting facilities has the capacity to accommodate up to five thousand students, but currently houses about three hundred students.

She appreciated the Emir for his continued support to programmes and policies of the government with more emphasis on the education sector.

Speaking on behalf of the Emir and other stakeholders, a retired Director with the Ministry, Muhammad Musa, expressed gratitude to the Commissioner for the honour and promised to assemble critical stakeholders from the emirate so as to arrive at an acceptable decision for the benefit of all and sundry.

News

NDIC Obtains Order To Wind Down 96 Microfinance, Mortgage Banks

Published

8 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Editor

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has said that it has obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 microfinance and primary mortgage banks whose licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria in May 2023.

The Managing Director, NDIC, Bello Hassa, revealed this at a sensitisation seminar for Judges of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday organised by the NDIC, to enlighten the judiciary on the intricacies of the banking industry.

Hassan said, “As at date, the Corporation had obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 Micro Finance and Primary Mortgage Banks whose licenses were revoked by the CBN in May 2023, in less than one Year of revocation.”

He added that the NDIC was committed to fulfilling its mandate of protecting depositors through bank supervision, failure resolution and liquidation so as to boost confidence in the financial system.

Speaking on the role that the judiciary plays in the fulfillment of the mandate, Hassan said, “We recognise the judiciary as one of our critical stakeholders. With this, when cases are brought before them, they can receive accelerated hearing and proclamation of Justice.”

Citing some of the achievements from previous editions of the seminar, Hassan said that instances where liquidation-related litigations experienced delays were reduced.

News

JUST IN: 36 Speakers Back State Police

Published

9 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

Speakers of the 36 Houses of Assembly in Nigeria on Thursday expressed support for the National Assembly’s ongoing efforts to alter the 1999 constitution to create state policing in the country.

The Speakers made their resolution known at the end of their meeting in Abuja.

The Senate and House of Representatives are currently working to amend various constitutional provisions, including those regarding state police, financial autonomy for local government, fiscal federalism, and mayoral status for the FCT.

Details shortly…