The perfect moment for Threads, Instagram’s new app to step into the arena is now. Over the recent weekend, while Twitter faced setbacks due to rate-limit errors, up-and-coming rivals such as Spill, Bluesky, and Post experienced remarkable surges in their user bases.
However, Threads holds a significant advantage. The app seamlessly imports your Instagram community, posting directly to them. Thus, Threads users won’t have to start building a community from scratch. It will immediately find their existing Instagram circles right from the beginning.
“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” the App Store description reads. “Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”
A stand-alone app
While Threads maintains a close connection with Instagram, it will function as a separate and independent app. Although limited information is available solely from the App Store listing, it appears that users will have the ability to like, comment, repost, and share posts within the Threads app.
Source: App Store
The provided App Store screenshots also demonstrate a feature allowing users to choose the audience they wish to allow replies from. Users can choose from options such as everyone, people they follow, or only those mentioned in the post.
Not a major surprise
The introduction of Threads doesn’t come as a surprise. Snippets of information have been gradually revealed over the past few months. According to an Instagram spokesperson, Threads is supposed to be decentralized. The leaked slides from a briefing with top creators suggested that Threads would be compatible with Mastodon, which operates on the decentralized network ActivityPub.
However, considering that Threads is associated with Instagram, a highly centralized app, the compatibility with a decentralized network raises some questions. It remains to see how this rumor will unfold. Nevertheless, other rumors surrounding Threads seem to be largely confirmed. The details provided in the App Store listing align with what was learned from the leaked slides.
Meta has had mixed success with its side apps in recent years. Several products, including the anonymous teen app tbh, the Cameo-like app Super, the Nextdoor clone Neighborhoods, the couples app Tuned, the student-focused social network Campus, the video dating service Sparked, and others, have been discontinued.
Yet, Threads is entering the market at a perfect moment to take advantage of Twitter’s ongoing mishaps. Ultimately, it will be up to consumers to determine whether they are willing to let Meta dominate yet another aspect of their social media experience.
