DEEP DIVE

Today, Facebook is set to launch a new messaging application: Threads from Instagram. Threads will allow Instagram users to connect with their friends, providing them with photos, videos, messages, and other updates throughout the day. According to Facebook, this app is designed to be “a new way to message with close friends in a dedicated, private space.” Threads require that users have an Instagram account, allowing them to contact followers they have selected with Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature.

Instagram Threads is essentially an extension of Instagram Direct: Instagram’s DM feature. Messages from Close Friends will show up both in Instagram Direct and in Threads.  Instagram Threads has additional capabilities so that close friends can send each other frequent and in-depth updates about their lives. In addition to sending messages to individuals or groups, the Instagram Threads app has a status update function that users can set to show friends where they are and what they’re doing. Possible statuses include ” 🚗On the move,” “📚Studying,” and “🏖️At the beach.” There’s also an option to set up Auto Status which “automatically shares little bits of context on where you are without giving away your coordinates.”

While not an exact replica, Threads’ bears a resemblance to Snapchat with its focus on connecting to close friends by providing them with frequent mini-updates. Instagram and Snapchat’s “stories” features already function in similar ways. Threads will provide users with the tools to create more private and closed stories to send to their smaller circles friends, which is similar to how Snapchat stories are often used.

In its press release announcing the launch of Threads, Facebook emphasizes how threads has been designed to maintain privacy for users, laying out this information in detail.

Once Instagram Threads is available for download, we’ll be creating a full app guide.