As it continues to work on new ways to grow the Threads userbase, Meta’s testing a new option that enables users to sign-up to the app by using their Facebook profile, instead of cross-linking their IG account.
That’ll provide another easy connection option, enabling incoming Threads users to populate their Threads graph based on their Facebook account info instead of their Instagram connections.
As explained by Meta:
“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.”
In its overview of the option, which is not available to everyone just yet, Meta says that for users who sign up using their Facebook account, it’ll display content on Threads based on your Facebook info, and your profile information and activity across accounts.
It’ll also use your Facebook data to recommend relevant content on Threads, which is something that Threads has actually scaled back on with its IG connection process.
Back in November, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri noted that:
“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.”
This was a key early growth hack for Threads, in that by enabling users to create a Threads profile from their IG account, that saved them the effort of having to re-enter all of their account info, while also populating their feed with content based on their IG engagement.
But as Threads learns more about user behaviors, it’s becoming clear, as Mosseri notes, that both apps are used in very different ways, which is why Threads has been gradually moving away from this linkage, at least in terms of initial interest prompts.
But clearly, it’s still a value-add to some degree, and maybe, your Facebook graph will better align with what you’re interested in on Threads.
To be clear, your Instagram graph still informs your recommendations on Threads to some degree, it just isn't included in the onboarding process. The same will apply via Facebook connection.
As noted, it’s another way to expand Threads’ userbase, by prompting non-IG users on Facebook to also sign-up for an account. And given that Facebook has around a billion more users than Instagram, that’s a big audience that Meta can tap into to boost Threads’ audience.
As of April, Threads was up to 350 million active users, and closing in fast on X’s 600 million actives, with Threads remaining high on the app download charts, and by some measures, even exceeding X in terms of time spent.
Indeed, just last week, Similarweb reported that Threads is now only trailing X by 17 million daily active users, in terms of mobile usage.
X still has the lead on web, and SimilarWeb’s numbers are indicative, not all-encompassing. But the trend data shows that Threads is clearly on track to match or supersede X in the near future.
A push to recruit Facebook users, then, could provide a valuable boost, and see Threads’ numbers really start to lap at Elon and Co.’s heels.
I mean, Threads rose to 100 million sign-ups in record time due to its linkage with IG. I wonder whether Facebook will have a similar effect.
The option to sign-up for Threads with your Facebook credentials is currently in test mode, and is not available to all users, while some users can also now sign up for Threads without an IG account.
