Meta Tests Opening Threads Posts On Other Platforms

Tom Jowitt,
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Meta Platforms is to conduct tests to allow posts from Threads accounts to be available on rival platforms, such as Mastodon

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that efforts are beginning to make user posts on Threads available on other social media platforms.

In a Threads post, Zuckerberg said a test is beginning so that posts from Threads accounts will be available on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol.

Meta had officially launched Threads in July, which had been built by the Instagram team who positioning it as a rival to X (aka Twitter). At the launch, Meta also announced plans to make Threads compatible with other open, interoperable social networks.

Threads, Instagram, Meta, Twitter rival
Threads. Image credit: Meta Platforms

Threads release

Initially, Threads witnessed surging user demand, and it quickly grew its user base to 112 million, before numbers declined.

In July an internal town hall meeting, Zuckerberg admitted to Meta staff that the honeymoon phase of Threads was now over. Zuckerberg confirmed the app had lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its launch.

Since then the app has received multiple updates, including a chronological feed of posts from the people or organisations that a user follows.

Meta also added a few other updates including a translation option, and another update that allows users in the Activity tab, to filter notifications by follows, replies, mentions, quoted posts, reposts and interactions from verified accounts.

Meta also introduced a follow button to make it easier to follow people back, and in August Meta released the desktop version of the Threads app.

Cross platform

Now Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms are starting tests to make posts on Threads appear on different platforms.

“Starting a test where posts from Threads accounts will be available on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol,” posted Zuckerberg. “Making Threads interoperable will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people. I’m pretty optimistic about this.

Threads had been made available in 100 countries including the US and UK when it launched in July. However the EU was excluded due to concerns with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

Threads however is set to roll out in Europe in December, according to media reports, which may help increase the number of people using it.