Summary
- Threads, Meta’s X/Twitter competitor, is adding a new privacy feature allowing users to control who can quote their posts.
- Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced the broader expansion of this feature for Threads users.
- Threads recently announced plans to offer financial bonuses to select creators, potentially attracting influential Instagram creators to the app.
Meta unleashed Threads last year as a direct competitor to Twitter/X, even using some of its staple features. Although the app’s popularity has waned somewhat since then, Threads continues to add new features in a bid to keep things fresh. The app is now expanding the availability of a feature that restricts people’s ability to quote someone’s post.
How to use Threads, Facebook’s new Twitter alternative, without sacrificing your privacy
This isn’t the Twitter replacement you were looking for
Simply put, users will have control over who can quote (usually with a comment) their posts on Threads. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, who also looks after Threads, said this privacy feature is rolling out widely to all users. It was previously available to some users as part of a test, but should now appear on more devices. The aim, per Mosseri, is to make the platform “a more positive place and give people more control over their experience” (via Engadget).
Users will be able to either allow all Threads users to quote their posts or none at all. There’s also the ability to only allow quotes from people they follow. This is an excellent privacy addition for people who use Threads frequently and one that we hope X also picks up soon. The latter only allows users to block someone to limit them from quoting a tweet/post.
While Mosseri didn’t detail how the process works, a TechCrunch report sheds more light on that front. Before posting a new thread, users will see the Anyone can reply & quote option at the bottom. Tapping this opens up a dropdown letting you choose from Anyone, Profiles you follow, or Mentioned only. Interestingly, restrictions on replies and quotes appear to be tied together, but that may change in the future.
Meta’s Threads has been on a roll lately
Although it may not enjoy the same volume of users as X, Threads continues to work on adding new features, some of which don’t yet feature on X, as we’ve already discussed above. This isn’t new to the platform, though, as the company recently began testing an archiving option that lets users hide their posts from the public eye, similar to its sister app Instagram. Meanwhile, no such option currently exists on X.
Threads is also working on offering financial bonuses to a select number of creators. This could be Meta’s way of ensuring more big-ticket creators from Instagram start posting on Threads. It shouldn’t be an impossible task, given that Instagram has several influential creators who could make a big impact on the platform, while also bringing some of their followers along for the ride.
