Let me ask you this. How many of you are on the Threads app? Most of you have probably already signed up for the so-called Twitter killer app. Out of curiosity, I have also created one, only to find out that I cannot delete threads without deleting my associated Instagram account. I felt a little embarrassed at first. But I hoped someday I would delete threads accounts without deleting my precious Instagram handle. 

Fingers crossed. Deleting your Threads account without sacrificing your Instagram will soon become a reality. At TechCrunch Disrupt, Michel Protti, Meta’s chief privacy officer, said “Meta is working on launching the actual deletion feature of a Threads account by December”. To confirm this, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, posted that the company is looking for a way to allow users to delete their Threads accounts separately.

Lets dive deeper:

Present Situation

Threads come at the same time as more and more users become dissatisfied with Twitter after Elon Musk’s takeover. Threads joins the queue along with Mastodon and Bluesky.

Joining Threads

  • Joining threads is pretty easy. All you have to do is sign in with your Instagram credentials. You get to keep your username, followers, and verification status. The platform provides the option to post text, videos, and photos and the ability to engage in real-time conversations.

Features

  • Initially, the Threads app had only subtle features like choosing who mentions you, muting accounts, and hiding offensive words and phrases. But it created so much dissatisfaction among users that it could not be an effective alternative to Twitter. There are also options to block profiles and hide likes. However, when you do so, changes will apply to both threads and Instagram.

This latest series of updates comes after the initial surge of sign-ups on Threads slowed.

  • Your Likes tab lets you see posts you have liked.
  • Following feed, which lets users see threads from the people they follow and filter notifications
  • Repost updates
  • Post translations

Delete Threads Account

  • Presently, you can delete your Threads account, but at the cost of your Instagram account. These two apps are tied together as one. So the only way out is to deactivate your Threads account. Here’s how to deactivate your threads account.

Delete Threads Account

Knowing Why?

Public Dissatisfaction

  • When Meta finally rolled out the Threads app in July 2023, users jumped in, and sign-ups crossed 49 million in just a day. Many users are upset about Meta’s policy regarding deleting your Threads account. Meta faced heat as there was no way for users to delete Threads accounts without deleting their Instagram accounts. Users felt that they were mocked by meta, and forums were flooded with complaints. So to avoid further backlash, the company ended up deactivating the account or setting it to private.

Digital Claustrophobia

Legal Battle

  • The Threads app’s user interface looks and operates much like Twitter, with buttons to like, reply, repost, or quote a thread. On the day the Threads app was launched, Twitter’s Elon Musk quoted, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” He has also threatened Threads with a legal action, accusing Threads of engaging in “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property. So I believe that by rolling out new updates, Threads is preemptively taking steps not to make the app look the same as Twitter.
  • Additionally, digital space is governed by various privacy laws in various jurisdictions. The most prominent and stringent among them is the GDPR guidelines of the EU. So any private entity that does not let users curtail personal freedom, even in digital mediums, will face the heat. Now you imagine why the Threads app is still not released in the EU.
Elon Musk

Low Performance

  • Since then, Threads has added about 19 million new users over the first few weeks. However, it also looks like Threads’ daily usage has dropped off. The Threads app is like Jack of everything and Master of Nothing. Of course, there are no features like messaging, hashtags, multi-account options, etc. After some deliberation, Meta has introduced features such as the following feed, full text search, and web app. Still, the level of engagement was meagre.

Ads revenue

  • It was anticipated that the Threads platforms would be new to the list of advertising platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But as per reports, Meta has not planned to integrate the Threads app with the Meta business suite. According to Mosseri, “advertisements are currently not a priority.”
  • Digital marketers who were vocal about the potential of the Threads app felt betrayed by Meta. So it became just another scrolling app, along with Instagram and Facebook.

The Future (Predicted)

I am not someone to predict the future of tech giants like Meta. But it is obvious in the digital space that those who do not value their customers will face backlash. As Adam Mosseri said “Threads is just the first version”. and there is no option before Meta other than rolling out updates, including the delete button.

As per the latest news, the delete button will be available only by December 2023. Meanwhile, you can expect other rollouts as mentioned here: hashtags, graph syncing, messaging options, support for activity pub (allows threads to be part of the fediverse), multiple-account options, and a web interface.

What else can you expect from a new platform in a fairly crowded market? Let me know in the comments below.