Celebrities Given Initial Access To Threads, Gordoncheya, Shakira, And Lando Norris Direct Posting

Latin singer Shakira, now also uses Threads. (photo: Instagram @shakira)

JAKARTA - Threads, one of the most anticipated applications of the year, appears to have been given early access to several celebrities.

The new Meta app will launch on Thursday July 6 at 3 p.m. GMT, and has been dubbed by experts as a 'witel killer'. However, prior to its global launch, it appears that some celebrities have been granted access.

Gordonkerya, Shakira, and Lando Norris are just a few celebrities who have posted on Threads.

Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also posted his first Thread, writing: 'Let's do this. Welcome to Threads.' Threads is a free app Meta calls a place where 'community gathers' to discuss topics via text - which sounds very similar to Twitter.

"Threads is a place where communities gather to discuss everything from topics you care about today to what will trend tomorrow," the description of the app said.

"Whatever you are interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who like the same thing - or build your own loyal followers to share ideas, opinions, and creativity with the world."

The app will launch, and anyone who already has an Instagram account will be given a Threads account with the same username. Prior to global launch, Meta had provided early access to some lucky celebrities to the app.

Chef Gordoncheya posted his first Thread with a humorous signal, "Can I find goat sauce here?"

Meanwhile, singer Shakira simply wrote, "Hello Threads," complete with a waving hand emoji.

Formula 1 racers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have also been given early access, with Norris posting a video of himself with the caption, "Waiting for my friends to join me."

Other celebrities who have posted today include footballer Kingsley Coman, MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, Christmas number one creator 5 times LadBaby, podcaster Steven Bartlett, NBA star Seth Curry, investor and business expert Gary totaled, and comedian Adam Waheed.

Threads has been dubbed an online 'Twitter killer' amid tensions between rival billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who have said they want to fight in the cage at the Rome Colosseum.

Musk seems more interested after repeatedly encouraging Twitter users to delete their Facebook accounts, and in the past called the social network "ordinary".

At first, Threads will only be available for iOS when it launches on Thursday, so Android users will have to wait.

Maybe Meta has set the launch time for Threads to take advantage of the recent anger aimed at Twitter, which has limited access to more features behind the payment wall.