Are you looking for another way to spread your voice and get your message out across social media? Meta has recently launched a new app called Threads, which aims to provide an alternative to Twitter. The app is built on top of Instagram and offers a unique way to share your thoughts, experiences, and photos with your close friends. According to Meta, the app is designed to be a space “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. 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.”

The app is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing apps in history, receiving five million sign-ups in the first four hours and hitting over 100 million users in five days. It’s easy to sign up on the app and get in on the action!

Below I’m sharing a quick start guide to help you sign up, use and enjoy the new Threads app yourself:

How to Use the Threads App

Step 1: Create and Set up Your Account

The first step in getting started with Threads is downloading the app. It’s available on both the iOS Apple app store and Google Play store so simply go to the relevant store for your device and download the app. Once you have installed the app you can sign in and join Threads using your Instagram username and password.

If you ever need to delete your Threads account you can easily do so at any time. To delete your account, go to “settings” and select “account.” From there you can choose the option to “delete your account” and follow the prompts. Deleting your Threads account will not affect your Instagram account or Facebook accounts in any way.

Step 2: Customize your Profile

Once you log in you will have the option to start customizing your profile. You will automatically be prompted to a screen where you can add a profile picture, update your bio, and link your Instagram account so your followers can find you on both platforms. If you want to get back to this page to edit your profile you can tap the profile button located at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Find accounts to follow  

Because you use your Instagram account to login to Threads, the app will automatically show you a list of accounts that you follow on Instagram that are available to follow on Threads. You also can search for any new accounts you’d like to follow. When I first made my account I already had a long list of “follow requests” which were likely Instagram friends who have their accounts set up to automatically request their followers. This makes it super easy to get started and have access to many accounts that you already are interested in through Instagram.

Step 4: Start sharing updates

The main premise of Threads is that you can share text updates with your friends and join in on public conversations. You are limited to 500 characters for each post to encourage your words to be concise and meaningful, however, you can include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length as well. To write your first update, click the icon in the bottom center of the screen and start typing your update.

Step 5: Engage with other threads users

Similar to other social media platforms, you can engage posts created by other users. As you scroll through your feed you can like, comment, repost, and share. Your feed will include threads posted by people that you follow as well as content that is recommended from profiles you may not have discovered yet. You will receive notifications as users reply to your threads or mention you in their own.

Step 6: control the privacy settings

If you want to maintain a private profile, Threads gives you control to do so. To adjust your privacy settings, go to the “settings” menu and select “privacy.” From there you can choose if you would like to allow everyone, close friends only, or specific users to reply to your threads. You also can update who can see your activity status and location sharing.

We can’t wait to engage with you on this new app 🙂