that the launch of Threads It has been on everyone’s lips, it is not new. The launch of Meta’s new social network has exceeded expectations, although that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have things to improve. One of the most important criticisms against the platform was the impossibility of deleting an account without deleting the Instagram profile to which it was linked. Fortunately, those in Menlo Park are working to correct it.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, touched on this possibility in a post on Threads. The executive explained that if you signed up for the new app by importing your Instagram data, the account you use on both platforms is one. Therefore, today there is no possibility of eliminating them individually. So if you delete your Threads profile, you also lose your Instagram profile and all its content, and vice versa.
However, he warned that are working to make account deletion manageable independently. This means that, going forward, Threads will allow those who decide to leave to delete all their traces of the platform, but keep their Instagram account active. Unfortunately, there has been no mention of how long it might take for this feature to be incorporated into the app.
“I’ve been getting a few questions about deleting your account. To clarify, you can deactivate your Threads account, which hides your profile and content from Threads; you can set your profile to private and delete posts from individual threads, all without deleting your account from Instagram.Threads works with Instagram, so right now it’s a single account. But we are looking for a way to remove your Threads account separately“, Mosseri explained.
The impossibility of removing Threads without losing the linked Instagram account has been one of the major flaws in the launch of the social network. It is evident that the first version of the platform still lacks a few functionalities — hashtags, direct messages, native support for GIFs, post search, customization of the feedetc.—, but the position adopted on the deletion of accounts it has been a mistake.
Mind you, maybe it’s by design. It wouldn’t be strange if Meta thought that keeping it perpetually linked to Instagram would help retain users’ interest in Threads. But it is a reality that many came to the new social network to see what it was about and to test whether it could really work as a replacement for Twitter. It is not illogical to think that a few users of the first wave can abandon the service if they are not convinced. And those of Mark Zuckerberg should have contemplated it beforehand.
Perhaps some consider that deactivate your Threads profile and uninstall the app it is enough to no longer use the platform. However, there is the feeling that permanently deleting the linked data, without implying losing the Instagram account, should have been an integrated function from the first minute.
The good thing is that the main Meta executives, like Mosseri or Mark Zuckerberg himself, are very active in Threads collecting the feedback of the users. This will help the platform evolve and new features be implemented more quickly. Let’s hope the separate removal of Threads and Instagram profiles will be among the first to be incorporated. We will be attentive to the news.