LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Meta is ready to launch a new text-based social app as a spinoff to Instagram — a direct challenge to Twitter, which is owned by Elon Musk.

A listing for the app, called Threads, has appeared on Apple's App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based conversation app" that is linked to Instagram.

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow,” it said.

Instagram users will be able to keep their user names and follow the same accounts on the spinoff app, according to screenshots displayed on the App Store listing.

Threads could be the latest headache for Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion and has been making noticeable changes that have upset both advertisers and users.

In the latest such change, Twitter said Monday that it will require users to be verified before they can use the online app TweetDeck. The new policy appears to be aimed at raising revenue through the verification subscriptions. TweetDeck's dashboard is popular with businesses, news organizations and social media teams who need to post and monitor to multiple Twitter accounts.

The TweetDeck announcement happened shortly after Twitter limited the number of tweets users can view each day.

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