Threads is taking the next step to separate itself from Instagram, with some EU users now able to create a Threads profile without using an IG login.
As you can see in these screenshots, posted by app researcher Radu Oncescu, selected EU users can now create a Threads account without having to go through the Instagram log-in process, by using an email address or phone number instead.
Meta has confirmed that it’s testing this option with some users in the EU region.
That means that you’ll likely soon be able to create a new Threads presence, with a different username for Threads specifically, in isolation of your IG account.
Which, as noted, is another step towards Threads becoming independent, and no longer relying on your other Meta accounts to power your recommendations.
Threads actually started on this path late last year, with IG chief Adam Mosseri noting in November that they had removed Instagram graph data from Threads onboarding, meaning that the profiles that you follow on IG no longer dictate its initial follow recommendations.
Threads does still use your IG graph for post recommendations, but over time, it’s gradually moving away from this element as well, which will eventually see Threads become more of its own entity, and less of a supplemental Instagram platform.
Which is a positive step. The profiles that you follow on Threads, and that are relevant to the Threads experience, are likely very different to the accounts you engage with on IG, and as such, recommendations based on Instagram likely don’t align with what you want from a real-time, text-based platform.
In this sense, Threads is gradually moving more into line with X/Twitter, in providing a stream of up-to-the-minute updates to help you engage in the latest conversations. It’s not quite there yet, but this should logically be the focus of the app, not creating a conversational add-on stemming from Instagram.
It seems that the Threads team is coming around to this perspective, and Meta’s reassessment of its political content stance has opened up more opportunities in this respect.
And with 350 million users, and rising, Threads is clearly on the right path.
