Meta’s fast-growing app Threads is quietly reshaping itself again. The Twitter (or X) rival — now boasting over 400 million active users — has rolled out group chats that can host up to 50 people, marking its biggest step yet toward becoming a full-fledged conversation platform.
But this isn’t just about new features — it’s about Meta revealing what it wants Threads to become.
From Public Feeds to Private Circles
What started as a lightweight text-sharing alternative to X is now evolving into a messaging-first social space.
After testing direct messages this summer, Meta has expanded Threads’ inbox into private group chats, where verified users aged 18 and up can exchange posts, videos, and GIFs in real time.
And for the first time, Threads’ messaging will be available across the European Union, a region where privacy rules had delayed its rollout until now.
Emily Dalton Smith, Threads’ VP of Product Management, said the move is about helping users “connect more deeply with people who share their interests,” rather than building a private or encrypted messaging app.
A Different Kind of Conversation
Unlike WhatsApp or Signal, Threads’ chats won’t offer end-to-end encryption. Instead, Meta is positioning them as casual, moment-driven spaces — the kind of digital living room where users can react to a football game, debate a movie, or share memes.
This approach makes sense for Meta’s ecosystem. Instagram has already leaned heavily into Reels and DMs, where engagement metrics are strongest. By mirroring that inside Threads, Meta seems to be shifting the app’s identity from a microblogging network to a community conversation hub — one focused more on shared interests than public arguments.
How Group Chats Work
Users will have a few layers of control:
Only people you follow can add you to a group chat — a stricter rule than regular DMs. Each group can be named, and soon, members will be able to invite others through shareable links, opening doors for larger communities to form organically.
Media and links remain restricted in message requests, and Threads will continue to filter potential spam into hidden folders. It’s a deliberately cautious rollout — fast enough to feel fresh, but contained enough to avoid chaos.
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Meta’s Subtle Shift
Perhaps the most interesting detail: over a third of daily Threads users follow fewer than half the same accounts they do on Instagram.
That’s a strong signal that Threads is developing its own identity — one separate from the photo app that birthed it.
While Elon Musk’s X doubles down on encrypted one-on-one chats and financial tools, Threads is quietly carving out the opposite path — fostering interest-based groups over intimacy or anonymity.
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