Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg shared a photo on Instagram with “actual footage of me building Threads for web.” And now ZDNet reports that Zuckerberg’s photo is available on his new Threads page on the web.
“As of Thursday, Meta’s new platform is fully accessible to all users from any computer and desktop browser, Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed in a new Threads post.”
“Use your Instagram account to log in: threads.net,” explains the official Threads account. “Scroll to catch up on the conversation, or start a new thread of your own.” Posts can include photos and videos, or you can reply and repost to other posts. “This is just the beginning. We’re working on bringing everything you know and love from mobile over to web. More soon.”
Wired argues the move makes Threads “more broadly usable.”
Most users will still access it through mobile, if the way people currently access the internet is any indication. But the move to the web is the next step in Meta creating an application just sticky enough to kneecap X and draw attention away from Bluesky, Mastodon, Spoutible, Post, and any other newish social app.
It’s also a way to juice its users again. After that spectacular initial sign-up period in July, Threads usage dropped off precipitously. New data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower suggests that daily active users are down more than 60 percent from its first-week average, though it’s now back on the upswing. Threads amassed 44 million daily active users during its launch peak, then saw usage drop to a low of 7 million DAUs in late July. As of mid-August, the app has seen increases of 11 million DAUs, Sensor Tower analysts say. However, time spent on the app per daily active user has also fallen, the firm says.
Caling Threads “a work in progress,” Wired notes it “”will supposedly be compatible with ActivityPub, an open social networking protocol, but that hasn’t happened yet. The app also doesn’t currently support direct messages, a popular feature on X. And Threads is not available in the European Union, due to the regulatory climate there.”
Their article also shares an idea from data journalist and engineer Surya Mattu: that both devices and social media apps like Threads should implement a transparency-guaranteeing “inspectability API” to always allow users to inspect their data and activity in real-time.
