Meta is testing a new way to sign up for Threads, and this time, it’s not through Instagram.
As part of its push to grow the Threads user base, Meta is now offering some users the option to create a Threads account using their Facebook profile. It’s a small change with big implications: by tapping into Facebook’s much larger audience, Threads could soon be reaching far beyond Instagram’s user base.
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“Signing up to Threads with your Facebook account helps unlock features that work across Threads and Facebook, like using the same login info to access both apps. If you create a Threads profile with your Facebook account, we’ll combine your info across Threads and Facebook.”
This means your Threads experience, from the content you see to how your profile is built, will be informed by your Facebook data. Think of it as a shortcut to a fully-formed Threads feed, minus the effort of manual setup.
Interestingly, this marks a shift in direction for Meta. Back in November, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said they were moving away from the original onboarding flow, which auto-imported your Instagram graph:
“We’re removing the Instagram graph import from the onboarding flow. We’ve been running a test for a while now and it looks like people actually prefer their experience if they build a different graph on Threads than the graph that they had on Instagram.”
At launch, this Instagram connection was key to Threads’ early momentum, giving users a frictionless way to bring over their account info and follow list. But over time, Meta noticed something: people use Instagram and Threads differently.
That insight led to a scaled-back integration with Instagram, and now, perhaps, a more tailored experiment with Facebook.
To be clear, Meta says Instagram data still influences recommendations, just not during onboarding. The same will apply if you connect via Facebook: your profile may be built using Facebook data, but your feed will remain a blend of algorithmic curation.
Still in limited testing, the Facebook sign-up option is clearly designed to tap into Meta’s biggest social network and with Facebook boasting roughly a billion more users than Instagram, it could become a meaningful unlock for Threads’ next wave of growth.