Takeaways:

• Threads is a new app by the team at Instagram to help creators like you share ideas and conversations with the world. It’s available starting today in over 100 countries for download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
• Log in with your Instagram account to get started in a few easy steps. Your username and verification badge will carry over and your Instagram followers are automatically invited to follow you on Threads.
• Feed includes threads posted by people you follow and new creators you haven’t discovered yet. Creation is simple with 500 characters of text to share in-the-moment updates, and the option to attach links, photos and videos.
• Threads offers the safety tools and controls you’re familiar with from Instagram, and is subject to the same Instagram Community Guidelines.
• Starting soon, Threads will be compatible with other open, interoperable social networks that are shaping the future of the internet. Content you post on Threads will be accessible from other apps like Mastodon, allowing you to reach new audiences with no added effort.

Introducing Threads

Today we're announcing the initial version of Threads, Instagram’s new app for creators to share real-time updates and engage in public conversations with their audience and other creators.

Instagram is the home of photos and videos created by billions of people around the world, allowing creators to share their creativity. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space for you to express your ideas.

Creators already use text to build communities and engage with fans on Instagram and Facebook today. We recently introduced Broadcast Channels, a one-to-many messaging tool that creators like Chloe Kim, Tank Sinatra and Lonnie IIV are embracing to engage with their most interested fans. With Threads, you have a dedicated space to say more and have a back-and-forth dialogue with others.

Threads is connected to Instagram — you’ll find your username and verification badge waiting for you when you join. Everyone who joins Threads will see an invitation to follow their same connections from Instagram with one tap.

How Does It Work?

Download Threads (find a QR code to download here) and use single sign on to log in with your Instagram account. Make any edits you’d like to your bio or links and you’re ready to go.

Spin up a thread to share your opinion or start a conversation. Attach links, photos, carousels or videos. Carousels can contain up to 10 photos and videos, and videos can be up to 5 minutes long and either horizontal or vertical. Jump to the replies to get in on the action and react to commentary, humor and insight from others.

On Threads, you’ll see content in feed from your connections as well as new recommended accounts to follow. The search experience will be simple at first, with the ability to search for accounts and see suggested creators to follow.

Find a thread that resonates with you? Hit Repost to share it with your audience, or use Quote to add your own commentary to it and further the conversation with your audience.

Control the Conversation and Tune Out the Noise
We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations. Some of your settings on Instagram will carry over automatically and you have the option to customize others:

• You can control who can mention you or reply to you, with options to allow replies from anyone or limit replies to the profiles you follow, or the profiles mentioned in your thread.
• You can add hidden words to prevent replies to your threads that contain specific words.
• You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the “...” menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.

As with all our products, we’re taking safety seriously, and we’ll enforce Instagram’s Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app.

What’s Next? Reach New Audiences

Many parts of Threads will feel familiar to anyone who loves Instagram: we want to create a positive, creative, vibrant place for sharing what matters, this time anchored in the written word. Starting soon, other parts of this app will feel very new. Our plan is to build Threads on the ActivityPub protocol – a set of decentralized standards for social networking. Soon, we will make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress. Other services including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.

For creators, this means in the future your posts can appear on other apps and services, allowing you to reach new audiences and grow your audience with no added effort. In addition, you’ll have the option to take your content and move to other services like Mastodon at any time.

Your profile on Threads will have a domain name (ex: jiho100x@threads.net) that your content will be associated with when it is being viewed on another service like Mastodon.

Coming Soon, More Features for Creators

We will continue to release updates to Threads in the app stores, where we’ll be adding new features to help you discover threads you’re interested in, and share in fun, new ways. Some key areas we're working on include improvements to search, ways to discover topics and trends, tools for creators, and messaging. We’ll also add and refine features for the app, based on what creators tell us they value the most.