What is the Instagram Threads app? All your questions answered

Image credits: Natalie Christman, Alyssa Stringer / Screen

Over the past few months, Twitter alternatives new and old have found an audience willing to try out a new text-based social network. Mastodon, Bluesky, Spill and T2 are some of the social media platforms that people are trying out. Now, Meta has jumped into the game with a big Instagram-related launch.

What is Thread? How do I create an account?

Threads is Metas’ text-based Twitter rival. It is tied to your Instagram account, so you can create an account by logging in using your Instagram credentials.

What is the difference from Twitter?

There are currently no paid levels and ads in the app. However, your Meta Verified is transferred even if you paid for Meta Verified. Users can leverage their Instagram network to find people to follow.

The app has just launched, but lacks Twitter-like features like long videos, direct messages, and live audio rooms.

How do I use Threads?

The platform is currently available on iOS and Android in more than 100 countries. However, due to privacy concerns, the app is currently not available in the EU. Since you log in through your Instagram account, you will be able to follow everyone you follow. You will also import your username, name and settings such as the block list.

How many users does this thing have?

Within hours of launch, Threads passed the 10 million subscriber mark and surpassed 30 million subscribers in 24 hours. Threads reached 100 million users in just five days of launch.

Mark Zuckerberg noted on day one that the app attracted 2 million sign-ups in two hours, 5 million sign-ups in four hours, and 10 million registered users in seven hours. The next morning, Meta’s CEO noted that more than 30 million people had signed up to try out the new app. The growth in threads is noteworthy as it hasn’t launched in the EU yet due to privacy concerns.

What are the limits of posting to Threads?

Users can post 500 characters in one post on the app. The post supports images, videos and GIFs. A Thread post supports up to 10 media items.

Can you use threads on the web?

You can view posts and thread profiles on the web via a link. However, you cannot log in through your account and post.

What are the latest threads updates?

Threads’ first update brings a handful of small changes, added features, and various bug fixes, including support for the recently released iOS 17 public beta. The update includes the following, released by Instagram software engineer Cameron Roth:

• iOS 17 crashes
• Double tap on the Search tab to search
• Pill nail polish for the face
• Expand photos on profiles
• Extra tall photos are now fully visible
• Clipped the binary dimension
• Random images are fixed on the thread line
• Better to scroll ignore

How do I delete my Threads account?

You can deactivate your Threads account, but to delete the account completely, you must delete your Instagram account, according to Metas Supplemental Privacy Policy. After users complained about this, Mosseri said that the company is looking for a way to delete your Threads account separately.

Do threads have a timeline to follow?

Currently, Threads doesn’t have a timeline that shows posts only from accounts you follow. The home timeline is algorithmic and is a mix of posts from accounts you follow and from other people.

We categorize posts lightly and show recommendations (posts from accounts you don’t follow) in the feed, which is especially important for a new app before people follow enough accounts, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a statement. response to a user.

Can you direct message people on Threads?

You cannot message users on the app. Mosseri said the goal is not to create another mailbox and instead allow people to send threads to other apps.

Threads is part of the fediverse?

At launch, the new Metas app does not support the functionality of a decentralized social network. This means that you cannot migrate on or off the server. However, Mosseri said support for ActivityPub is on the way.

We’ve worked hard to build support for ActivityPub, the protocol behind Mastodon, into this app. We couldn’t get it done for launch due to a number of complications that come with a decentralized network, but it’s coming, he said.

If you’re wondering why this matters, here’s a reason: You may end up leaving Threads one day, or hopefully not, end up exiting the platform. If that ever happens, you should be able to take your audience with you to another server. Being open can allow for that.

What are some features currently missing in Threads?

• A later feed
• Support for GIFs
• Full support for the web version
• Editing posts
• Online translation
• Support for user generated alt image text
• hashtags
• A way to see your favorite posts

What are Threads’ data collection practices?

Since you’re using an Instagram account to access Threads, Meta claims it’s part of your Instagram account. Users have already raised questions about app data collection, given the privacy labels mentioned in the App Store.

In response to questions about the privacy labels of apps on the App Store, Metas deputy privacy manager Rob Sherman said these labels are similar to the company’s other apps.

The labels are similar to the rest of our apps, including Instagram, in that our social apps receive any information (including categories of data listed in the App Store) that you share in the app, he said in a Threads post.