Threads now offers a Direct Messages feature on its platform that allows users to message their friends, family, or mutual accounts. This was finally released two years after the app debuted without its dedicated communications feature.
This feature has been long awaited by Threads users since it arrived in 2023, but instead, Meta directed them to utilize Instagram's DMs for all communication needs.
Direct Messages are an important part of the social media experience and since then, it has been the go-to feature of users who want to directly converse with like-minded individuals on a variety of topics or anything they think of.
Threads Offers Direct Messages Feature
A new blog post by Meta is proud to share that Threads is now rolling out the Direct Messages feature on its platform, marking the first time in its history that it is getting this experience. Since debuting in 2023, Threads has become a well-rounded platform that offers users a way to express themselves in a microblogging-style experience, but it lacked a messaging feature.
Now, Meta wants to change that by launching the Messaging feature on Threads, which allows users to connect easily to their mutuals, friends, and family without having to rely on Instagram.
According to Meta, Threads' current DMs feature offers a one-to-one experience, but the company also added a group chat feature from day one.
For now, DMs are only available for users 18 years of age and above, and Meta requires both to be a follower of the other to start messaging. That being said, users may still allow messages from non-followers, but it will be directed to a message requests folder.
Apart from this, users may also take advantage of Inbox Filters to only feature the users or messages that matter most to them.
Threads DMs: Two Years in the Making
According to Meta, Messaging is one of the top-requested features by users since they launched Threads in 2023, and now, they are making it happen on the platform. The company highlighted that alongside this, safety is also their top priority, ensuring that users are protected despite using this feature.
Meta also released another feature on Threads called the highlighter, which showcases the trending topics on the platform as part of your feed.
The Long Wait for Threads' DMs
It is known that Threads is a subsidiary app of Instagram, and since its beginning, it has been a connected app that brings a text-based social media experience that contrasts with IG's media-heavy focus. However, Threads did not have any DMs feature, and the platform directed users to use Instagram's messaging experience, going as far as allowing users to share Threads posts directly via IG DMs.
Since its release in 2023, users have bugged the likes of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri for a direct messages feature that is native to Threads. Almost two years ago, Mosseri claimed that they are still working on developing the direct messages feature on Threads.
In the past months, Instagram has made it clear that Threads is a standalone app, with the company giving it its unique features that are not influenced by its parent platform as its popularity rose.
Users were also given the chance to delete their Threads accounts without affecting their Instagram profiles, as previously, doing so would also delete their IG profiles.
Originally published on Tech Times
