Threads is an American social media microblogging service operated by Meta Platforms. Threads requires an Instagram account to use the service and features integration between the two platforms. Upon its launch in 2023, Threads became the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, gaining over 100 million users in its first five days and surpassing the record previously set by ChatGPT. , Threads had over 400 million monthly active users.
After Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, Meta employees explored the concept of introducing text-based functionality to Instagram. This feature, known as Instagram Notes, was rolled out in December 2022. The company subsequently began developing a separate app focused on text-based posts. Development on Threadsinternally known as "Project 92"commenced in January 2023, with the platform officially launching on July 5, 2023. Threads immediately became available in 100 countries, but until December 14, 2023, had delayed its launch in the European Union as it waited for regulatory clarity from the European Commission regarding the service's data collection policies.
History Predecessor In October 2019, Threads was introduced as a separate app available for Android and iOS. This app's functionality resembled that of Snapchat, allowing users to communicate through messaging and video chats. It was integrated with Instagram's "Close friends" feature, so that users could send images, photos, and texts privately to others, and was embedded with Instagram's photo editing system, and introduced the ability to share a status with other registered users. Instagram discontinued this version of Threads in December 2021, mainly due to most of its features being rolled out on Instagram, as well as low usage compared to other social media applications. Approximately 220,000 users globally downloaded the original Threads app, less than 0.1% of Instagram's monthly active users.
Development and announcement On April 14, 2022, business magnate Elon Musk attempted a takeover of the social media platform Twitter. On October 27, Musk acquired the company for billion in an agreement with the company's board. As Twitter's owner and CEO, Musk implemented several changes to the platform, including monetizing the platform's application programming interface (API); his views and policy changes concerned many advertisers, some of whom left the platform. In November 2022, Meta employees started discussing the possibility of creating a separate app for Instagram Notes, an upcoming text-based feature designed for Instagram. That month, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg—seeking to take advantage of the situation—discussed Twitter-like features the company could add to Instagram with the service's head, Adam Mosseri. At the end of the discussion, Mosseri agreed to build a separate app with a planned release date of January 2023.
Amid several layoffs at Meta Platforms, Mosseri and product leader Connor Hayes assembled a team comprising two product managers, two designers, and dozens of engineers from Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram, growing to fifty-six people by the app's launch. The team favored agility, opting to build features, such as searching for content, later. Development began that January under the codename "P92". Moneycontrol obtained information about the app in March, and The Verge published details from an internal company-wide meeting in June. The project, referred to as "Project 92", was described by chief product officer Chris Cox as the company's response to Twitter. Meta Platforms had reportedly secured commitments from some celebrities and was in talks with Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama. Development was completed in five months using the Jetpack Compose framework.
In July, developer Alessandro Paluzzi tweeted about the release of Project 92 on the Google App Store under the name Threads and shared several screenshots of its features; the app was taken down shortly after. On July 3, Threads appeared on the Apple App Store with a release date set for July 6. Additionally, a website for the app featured a countdown clock leading up to the service's launch. Mosseri intended to release the app a week later, but pushed the release date after Musk implemented a rate limit on the number of tweets users could read. The countdown expired on July 5 at 7:00 p.m. EDT after pushing the release date several hours further to account for international app stores, and Threads officially launched in one hundred countries. Meta Platforms was at the time awaiting regulatory clarification from the European Commission due to concerns and uncertainties regarding the service's data collection policies. According to Mosseri, the original name was considered to be Textagram, with the runner-up name being Epigram.
Launch Within a day of its launch, Threads had gained thirty million users, surpassing the previous record set by ChatGPT and making it the fastest-growing platform in history. The early active user numbers of the platform were not sustained at the time, and the user base of the app plummeted more than 80% to 8 million daily active users by the end of July 2023.
On the same day, lawyers representing Twitter threatened legal action against Meta Platforms, alleging that the company had used trade secrets to develop the Threads app. After the launch, Mark Zuckerberg broke his eleven-year silence on Twitter. He posted a Spider-Man meme to signify the similarity between Twitter and Threads.
On August 22, 2023, Meta launched the web version of the Threads app.
On December 14, 2023, Threads was launched in the European Union after a five-month delay due to privacy concerns raised by regulatory firms and the tight integration between Threads and Instagram accounts.
Meta announced that from April 29, 2024, Threads would be temporarily shut down in Turkey. This was due to local rulings on its data-sharing with Instagram. Threads returned in Turkey on June 17, 2026.
In April 2026, Meta introduced Live Chats on Threads, a feature that enables users to participate in real-time public conversations during live events within the platform's communities.
Appearance and features Designed as a platform for real-time conversations and sharing, Threads aims to provide users with a similar experience to Twitter. Threads prioritizes public dialogues over private communications, commonly known as microblogging, and is closely linked to Instagram, its sister social networking service.
Accompanied by the launch of Threads, Meta announced their vision for the app to be a "positive and creative space to express your ideas".
Users can create posts consisting of up to 500 characters of text or 5 minutes of video content (compared to Twitter's 280 characters of text and 2 minutes 20 seconds of video content for non-paying users). While Threads does not have a trending stories feature similar to other common social media features, it now has a Popular Communities feature as of October 2025. This feature takes topic tags and creates niche communities focused on specific topics like sports or popular TV shows for users to engage with personalized interests.
In response to user feedback, Threads introduced a new home feed for posts along with several updates to the social media app. These changes included the capability to edit posts, translation into multiple languages, and an improved user interface for switching between different Threads accounts.
Threads has also introduced a reposting feature which is visible on each users' profile tab and in their following feed.
Threads has the same community guidelines as Instagram, banning content such as nudity, sexual intercourse, and recreational drugs.
Originally accessed through the URL "threads.net", Threads uses the URL "threads.com" as of April 2025, with the original URL redirecting to the current one.
In May 2026, Threads introduced a redesigned logo and updated wordmark as a part of a broader branding refresh for the platform.
Direct Messaging (DM) In July 2025, Threads introduced a native Direct Messaging (DM) feature, moving away from its initial reliance on Instagram's inbox for private communication. This standalone functionality allows users to manage private conversations via a dedicated inbox icon within the Threads interface. At its inception, Meta restricted the feature to users aged 18 and older, initially allowing DMs only between mutual followers on Threads or Instagram.
The messaging system is protected by the company's existing privacy standards and safety infrastructure, including the ability to filter message requests into a dedicated folder and block unwanted contacts. Following its initial release, the platform expanded messaging capabilities in September 2025 to include message requests from non-followers, as well as support for group chats with up to 50 participants. While the feature supports rich media such as photos, videos, and voice notes, it notably launched without end-to-end encryption (E2EE), drawing criticism regarding its privacy compared to other Meta-owned services like WhatsApp.
ActivityPub support At launch in July 2023, Meta stated that Threads would eventually support the ActivityPub protocol.
Starting in early 2024, Meta implemented a few aspects of ActivityPub in Threads, starting with making posts from select Threads accounts accessible by users of ActivityPub platforms. Meta team members said that they would continue this process and support more ActivityPub integration (as possibly only an 'opt-in' feature), taking "the better part of a year".
On March 21, 2024, Threads introduced a "beta" feature that allowed Threads users whose accounts were public to make them visible on the fediverse, and to see the number of "likes" they had received, but not be notified of boosts or replies. Except for countries that are a part of the European Union, Meta rolled out the connection to the fediverse in June 2024.
As of December 2024, users from the fediverse can follow Threads accounts, and Threads users can follow users in the fediverse outside of Threads.
Account integration with Instagram Threads accounts are closely integrated with Instagram accounts. By default, Threads and Instagram accounts share the same username, profile picture, and display name, although the profile picture and display name can be customized.
Users can choose which accounts that they follow on Instagram will carry over to Threads, either with the other person's Threads account already created or set to automatically follow them once an account is created.
Users who decided to terminate their Threads account had to delete their associated Instagram account as well. This caused EU countries to delay making Threads available there. This led users who disliked Threads to warn other Instagram users not to open an account on Threads, because they could risk losing their Instagram account as well if they ever wanted to delete Threads.
As of December 2023, this was no longer the case; users can delete or temporarily disable their Threads account without affecting their Instagram account.
Communities On October 22, 2025, Meta officially introduced Communities on Threads, public spaces where users can join discussions centered on shared interests, building on the platform's existing topic tags and custom feeds features. At launch, more than 100 communities were available, covering subjects such as the NBA and WNBA, television, and K-pop, each featuring a custom "Like" emoji exclusive to members. Unlike X's Communities, which are user-created and limit participation to members, Threads Communities are created and managed by Meta, with non-members able to view and engage in discussions. Community membership is public and displayed on user profiles, with joined communities automatically pinned to the feeds menu.