It is fair to say that social media apps have become fairly popular in recent years. Since Facebook took off in the 2000s, a number of other names have looked to become as widely used – with varying degrees of success. Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat have all become worldwide hits, but earlier this year a new kid on the block appeared.
Threads arrived to much excitement and everyone from Hollywood stars, to sportsbooks like BetUS, to even your mom and dad, signed up for the new venture. But that initial burst of activity has now flat-lined a little. Users are not quite as enamored by Threads as they were when it launched.
Some Threads sign-ups have even thought about deleting their profile. But there is a distinct problem with that. Threads comes under the Meta umbrella and is linked with Instagram accounts. Instagram is hugely popular and the only way it seems users can delete Threads is by getting rid of their Insta too. Is there anything that can be done?
The Rise and Fall of Threads
Threads launched at the beginning of July in a move that seemed to catch Twitter – and most of the digital world – by surprise. There had been very little concrete information about the new app beforehand and everything went a little crazy for a few days.
In the first few hours of existence, Threads managed to sign up around five million users. Within the first week, that number had risen to around 100 million. With Twitter users unhappy with the app since Elon Musk’s takeover, a new text-based social media app was needed – and Threads seemed to be able to fit the bill.
But in just over a month, user activity has plummeted. Big names have published noticeably fewer posts and the honeymoon period is definitely over. Things may change if Meta introduces some of the elements that users have wanted from the new app. But many have gone so far as to consider deleting the app rather than keep going with the product. But there is a problem with that.
Instagram Love
The main reason why people have not completely deleted their Threads profiles is that they would need to delete Instagram too. The photo and image-based social media app is incredibly popular and there are many users that tried out Threads at its launch by easily linking it to their Insta accounts.
Although it was made very clear that users would not be able to delete Threads on its own, the temptation to try the new app was too strong. Now Instagram users will see the Threads icon gathering metaphorical dust on their home screens, forever reminding them of what they consider a mistake.
Twitter Rebound
Although there is still a lot of criticism of the way that Twitter has changed since Musk took over, it is still one of the busiest social media apps available. Activity has been far higher than that on Threads and it seems as though users are finding it difficult to completely say goodbye to an app they once loved.
Twitter users even seem to be able to ignore the more curious statements from Musk (invariably via his Twitter profile). Even the farcical idea of a cage fight between the Twitter owner and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg or the rebranding to ‘X’ has not dissuaded users to leave.
Deleting Threads
So Threads can’t be deleted without deleting Instagram. All that content stored up in Instagram accounts would be permanently deleted if you decide to say goodbye to Threads. But there are other options for those of you that just can’t abide the idea of having Threads still around.
We will go into deactivation in a moment, but there are other ways to hide your Threads content. This may be a painstaking endeavor if you have already posted a lot on your Threads account. But individually deleting posts and relies can clear up your app, without actually getting rid of it (and Instagram) altogether.
Think About Deactivation
This might be the best way to deal with your newfound hatred for Threads. By deactivating your Threads account. You can go into your account settings and temporarily deactivate an account, meaning that it will be hidden from everyone on the app. This also doesn’t affect your Instagram account in any way.
Your Threads posts and replies will still be stored on the Instagram servers, so you can reactivate your account at any time and no one will be any wiser. You can also hide the Threads badge from your Instagram account page as well, so all traces of your sign up will be hidden.
Apparently, because of what we imagine to be a lot of user feedback, Instagram is looking into ways of allowing account holders to delete Threads separately, without affecting Instagram accounts. But this is something that may not happen for a while – if ever – so hiding and deactivating would seem to be the way to go for now.
Social Media Apps
If anything is to be learned from the unhappiness about – and drop in usage of – the Threads app, it is that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It seems as though people were so disappointed at the way Twitter (or X) had changed that they would sign up for anything that looked like taking over the text-based app market.
It would be very easy to say to disgruntled Threads users that they can just not use the app if they are that unhappy. But social apps have become so central to so many people’s lives that when they feel as if they have made a mistake, it is understandable for them to want to forget all about it.
Using a little more caution is a key takeaway here. Social media apps look like they are here to stay – and there will be many more launched in the years to come. So it might be an idea to see how new apps develop without feeling the need to become an early adopter every single time.
