- Instagram's new text-based app, Threads, hit phones on Wednesday evening.
- The app had already reached 30 million sign-ups as of Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg wrote.
Instagram's new text-based app, Threads, hit phones on Wednesday evening, and the app had already reached 30 million sign-ups as of Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote.
The Twitter lookalike has been under development since January, and some content creators and celebrities were selected to test out the app earlier this week. Yet, the app is still missing some parts, creators told Insider.
"If I was going to abandon Twitter, I would need to know that whenever news breaks and happens, it will happen on Threads first," creator Lonnie Marts said. "Right now, if I want to know what's going on, I'll jump on Twitter."
"It's not as full-fledged out," creator Roberto Nickson said. "There's no spaces, there's no lists, there's no trending topics yet. It's pretty bare bones."
We spoke with creators who shared which features they want from Instagram's new app, from an explore page to creator monetization.
Here's what is missing from Instagram's new app, Threads, according to creators:
- There are no hashtags on the app yet. Creators are already clamoring for a way to sift through the millions of posts on Instagram's new app — and hashtags are one thing that could help. In response to an early user asking about hashtags on the app, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri responded on Threads with: "Not yet, but it's on the list."
- Creators also want an explore page and a way to search content. Currently, the search bar on Threads only helps users find other users, and not content. Lauren Godwin, a content creator with over 22 million TikTok and 790,000 Instagram followers, told Insider that she would like to see an explore page within the app. Mosseri said in a Thread post that search capabilities are also "on the list."
- Eventually, creators want to see a form of monetization for their content. "I would love to see a way for creators to actually make money on it rather than just being a place to talk," creator Avori Henderson said.
- An answer to the biggest question of all: What is everyone supposed to call a post on Threads? Two creators stumbled over what to call a post on the app, and accidentally let the phrase "tweet" slip through. On the app, there is already a debate about what to call posts. Mosseri even chimed in on the debate with a post on the app: "'Posted' most likely, maybe 'threaded' but that doesn't quite feel right," Mosseri wrote. Per an official post from the Threads App account, you can just say "post."
Threads is also notably missing the decentralized protocol that bolstered the earliest rumors of the app. But Instagram has reassured users that this feature will be arriving in the future.
"We're committed to building support for ActivityPub, the protocol behind Mastodon, into this app," Mosseri said in a Threads post. "We weren't able to finish it for launch given a number of complications that come along with a decentralized network, but it's coming."
Other features that are "on the list" for Instagram's Threads include an option to toggle between multiple accounts, a specific feed for accounts users follow, and a desktop version of the app (although mobile is a priority, Mosseri said on Threads).
Currently, there also are no DMs on the Threads app, but Mosseri said in a post that "we're thinking we'll lean into being open and steering people toward using other messaging apps to share threads."
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri shared that updates are coming, but will take time, in a Thread Thursday.
"The real test is not if we can build up a lot of hype, but if you all find enough value in the app to keep using it over time," he wrote. "And there are tons of basics that are missing: search, hashtags, a following feed, graph syncing, fedeverse support, messaging maybe …We're on it. The (amazing) team is cranking away. But full disclosure, it'll take time."