Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, various social media platforms have gained popularity as alternatives. Some of these platforms include Mastodon, Bluesky, Spill, T2, and Meta’s Threads platform. These platforms offer new and innovative ways for users to interact and share content.
What is Threads? How do you create an account?
Threads is a text-based social media platform developed by Meta, designed to rival Twitter. To create an account, users can log in using their Instagram credentials, as Threads is tied to the Instagram account.
How is it different from Twitter?
Unlike Twitter, Threads does not currently have paid tiers or ads. Additionally, users’ verification marks from Instagram are carried over to Threads, even if they have paid for Meta Verified. Users can leverage their Instagram network to find people to follow on Threads.
One notable difference between Threads and Twitter is the lack of features such as long videos, direct messages, and live audio rooms on Threads.
How do you use Threads?
Threads is available on both iOS and Android in over 100 countries. Initially, the app was not available in the EU due to privacy concerns, but it was later launched in the region in December 2023. Users can browse the social network without an account, but they will not be able to publish or interact with posts.
When logging in through their Instagram account, users can follow all the folks they follow on Instagram. They will also import their username, name, and settings, such as their block list.
How many users does this thing have?
As of November 2024, Threads has more than 275 million monthly active users. The platform has experienced steady growth, with 10 million sign-ups within hours of launch and reaching 100 million users within just five days.
What are the limitations of posting on Threads?
Users can post up to 500 characters in a single post on the app, which supports images, videos, and GIFs. A Thread post can include up to 10 media items. To combat spam attacks, Threads has implemented rate limits on how many posts users can view.
Can you use Threads on the web?
Yes, users can view posts and publish from the Threads.net website.
How do you delete your Threads account?
Users can deactivate or delete their Threads account. Until the end of 2023, deleting a Threads account required deleting the associated Instagram account. Meta retains user data for 30 days after the initial deletion request, allowing users to cancel deletion within that timeframe.
How can you customize your Threads experience?
Threads allows users to pin search terms and tags as feeds. The company is also testing a feature to create custom feeds by adding specific profiles and terms to a new feed. Users can set any feed as their default feed.
Threads has introduced “Starter Packs,” lists of people to follow based on different themes, inspired by rival social network Bluesky. The platform is also testing a feature that allows people to add their interests to their profile, directing users to active conversations about the topic.
Can you DM people on Threads?
Currently, users cannot send messages to other users on the app. Instagram head Adam Mosseri stated that the goal is to avoid building another inbox and instead allow people to send threads to other apps.
Does Threads have an API?
Yes, Threads launched its public API in June 2024, allowing developers to build tools to publish posts and retrieve user posts, as well as gain insights into engagement. However, these tools cannot currently delete posts.
Does that mean we will have third-party clients?
At present, Threads’ API has limitations, such as not allowing developers to fetch timeline data, making it impossible to create alternative clients for Threads.
Is Threads part of the fediverse?
Partially. Threads has started an experiment to allow users to share their posts to the fediverse. Users on other compatible ActivityPub networks like Mastodon can follow Threads users and see their posts. Threads also allows users on the fediverse to like Threads posts.
Meta has extended fediverse support by adding features such as allowing Threads users to see replies from fediverse users on their posts, supporting posts generated through the Threads API to be distributed on the fediverse, and enabling users to check who is following them from other servers.
In December 2024, Threads started allowing users to follow profiles from other fediverse servers.
What are some features that are currently missing from Threads?
- Full Fediverse integration
- Scheduling posts (coming soon)
- Direct messages
- Support for lists
- Support for third-party clients
What are Threads’ data collection practices?
As Threads is tied to the Instagram account, Meta states that it is part of the Instagram account. Users have raised concerns about the app’s data collection practices, given the privacy labels mentioned in the App Store.
In response to queries about the app’s privacy labels, Meta’s deputy chief privacy officer Rob Sherman explained that the labels are similar to those of other Meta apps, including Instagram.
“The labels are similar to the rest of our apps, including Instagram, in that our social apps receive whatever info (including the categories of data listed in the App Store) you share in the app,” he said in a Threads post.
This story was originally published on July 6, 2023, and is updated regularly.
