‘Trap’: Hidden catch behind downloading Meta’s new app Threads

It’s the hot new Twitter rival that attracted 30 million users in its first day. But now people are realising the hidden catch with downloading Threads.

Meta has launched a new app as an alternative to Twitter — and some people are already over it.

Threads — Twitter’s latest rival — launched on Thursday and more than 10 million people signed up within the first seven hours of launching, Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the app.

By Friday morning, Threads had attracted about 30 million users and an upset Twitter CEO Elon Musk was threatening legal action.

But people who are trying to delete their account and leave the new app are discovering that they can’t without also deleting their Instagram account, since the two link together, the New York Post reports.

Meta launched its text-based rival to Twitter on Thursday.

The debut of Threads had users experimenting with the new platform, and some were posting that they would be abandoning Elon Musk-run Twitter for the Meta app.

Twitter users had already sworn to abandon ship since Mr Musk’s takeover of the company last year, which resulted in many changes to the user experience. Most recently, Twitter placed limits on how many tweets users can view per day — with verified accounts able to read 10,000 posts per day, unverified accounts 1000 posts and new unverified accounts 500 posts.

people on Twitter vs Threads pic.twitter.com/Oj94bk1WbR

— T (@teawatters) July 6, 2023

bye twitter, hi threads pic.twitter.com/XU0Wd0C8kT

— Mikki ♮ (@mikki_lr) July 6, 2023

bye bye twitter, let's get new chapter everyone.. pic.twitter.com/VbzV4W566M

— àspa (@asfaxz) July 6, 2023

While some are happy to have a replacement for Twitter in Threads, others couldn’t find the joy in it and looked to delete their accounts — only to find that they would have to also delete Instagram, according to the Threads Supplemental Privacy Policy and a Help Center page.

The policy goes the other way, too: Deleting Instagram can delete Threads.

“Your Threads profile is part of your Instagram account, and may be deleted at any time by deleting your Instagram account,” a Supplemental Privacy Policy for the app said.

Threads and Instagram are linked, and would-be Threads users must have an Instagram account before signing up. When registering for a Threads profile, there’s an option to import bio information and followers straight from Instagram.

However, there is a way to get around this — but your Threads account technically still won’t be deleted.

Read the fine print on Threads:

“To delete your Threads profile and data, you’ll need to delete your Instagram account.” pic.twitter.com/Jcr6iBSjiS

— Ryan Giordano (@rtgiordano) July 6, 2023

A disclaimer in the Help Center states that users on Threads can delete individual posts or temporarily deactivate their account, meaning their posts won’t be visible to others until they choose to reactivate. So while the account will be hidden from all other users, it still won’t be fully deleted.

A Meta spokesperson told Insider in a statement that “this is something we’re working on.”

Some users took to Twitter to complain about this part of its competitor app.

Meta says it’s ‘working on’ perceived issues with deleting the app. Picture: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

“We can’t delete our threads account without deleting our ig (Instagam)?? they knew ppl would instantly hate it so they made it a saw trap,” one person wrote.

“I want to delete my threads ac but now I can’t … Stuck,” another said.

“Installed threads just to see what it is all about and this mf trapped us all, can’t even delete the account now :)” a user tweeted.

“I deactivated my threads account already but it turns out you can’t delete your threads account *without also deleting your Instagram account* so maybe just don’t sign up!” one admitted.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri posted on Threads that the team is also working on “tons of basics that are missing” such as a search feature, hashtags, a following feed and more.

“But full disclosure, it’ll take time,” he added.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission