Threads users will no longer have to delete their Instagram account for deleting their Threads account. Meta, the parent company of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, is preparing to roll out a separate account deletion feature for Threads by December 2023.
Threads is a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations. It is linked to users’ Instagram accounts, and users cannot delete their Threads account without also deleting their Instagram account. This has been a pain point for some users, who may want to use Threads to communicate with a close group of friends without having to share all of their Instagram activity with them. Users currently have to log in using their Instagram account. Threads users can post up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.
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Meta is now working on a separate account deletion feature for Threads. This will allow users to delete their Threads account without affecting their Instagram account.
“Technically, it was extremely challenging to allow deletion of a separate Threads account without also deleting your overall Instagram account out of the gate. So we paid particular attention to ensuring the user could still exercise their deletion rights, by deactivating the account to sort of hide all content, setting it to private or deleting individual threads,” Michel Protti, Meta’s chief privacy officer for product told TechCrunch.
Thread shot to fame following its launch soon. The app earned 100 million sign ups in just 5 days beating ChatGPT’s previous records. However, the growing competition has led to a decline in its popularity in the past few months. In an effort to keep up with the competition especially from its closest rival Twitter, the app recently launched features such as ability to direct share post to Instagram Direct Message (DM), customisable alt-text for media files, and a new mention button to easily mention someone’s account in your Thread.
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