Into a social media world already dominated by platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp, Meta Platforms — the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — has introduced a new entrant: the Threads social media platform.
The new social media app, called Threads, works much like Instagram or Twitter, letting users write and post text online, and has even been described as a new text-based version of Instagram. To use Threads, you need an Instagram account — without one, you cannot sign up. Instagram has billions of users worldwide and is a platform built mainly around photos and videos. When you log into Threads using your Instagram account, it automatically imports your existing Instagram profile information, including your profile photo, though you can still edit it yourself afterward. If your Instagram account is verified, your Threads account will be verified too.
Image: Meta
Users under 16 (or under 18 in some countries) are treated as minors, and their profiles are set to private by default when they create an account. One advantage of Threads being linked to Instagram is that you can automatically follow your Instagram followers on Threads as well, and followers who join Threads can also be auto-followed back. Threads is designed to expand the role Instagram users already play, creating a positive and creative space centered around text.
Many of the ways you interact on Threads mirror Twitter — reacting to posts, reposting, quoting, and commenting are all supported. However, Threads does not allow you to edit a post once it has been published. Despite being a social media platform, it notably lacks a chat box for direct messaging between users, and it also does not include the hashtag feature common to other social platforms.
Image: Meta
Posts on Threads can contain up to 500 characters, and users can also attach and share links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes long. Threads is also reported to include screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions. The Threads news feed shows posts from accounts you follow as well as content from creators you haven’t discovered yet.
Since there is no web version of Threads, anyone who wants to use the platform needs to download the app for their particular phone. Since official access opened on July 5, more than 100 million people across over 100 countries had downloaded and used the app within just five days, by July 10.
Image: Meta
It remains to be seen what new features and points of interest Threads will add to keep drawing in users to this new social media platform. Those who want to use Threads can download it via the Google Play Store for Android or the Apple App Store for iOS, or by scanning a QR code through threads.net.