Why I Won't Sign Up for Threads

Ever since Twitter changed ownership in October 2022, users have been leaving the microblogging service for other social media services. I joined Mastodon, then a few months later Spoutible and finally Bluesky (it was still by invitation then). Following the election and changes to Twiter's (I refuse to call it "X") terms of service, even more people left. Many left for Bluesky. I abandoned Twitter entirely and devoted myself almost entirely to Bluesky. One microblogging service I have never considered and still won't is Threads, Meta's take on microblogging.

Now Meta has fixed some of the objections that I had when Threads first launched in July 2023. While one still needs an Instagram account (which I already have) to use Threads, your Instagram account is no longer deleted if you delete your Threads account. One can also now access a chronological feed on Threads. While these problems have been fixed, Threads still has one major problem which prevent me from ever signing up for Threads.

The first is that Threads does not have hashtags per se. I have always found this curious, given both Instagram and even Facebook have hashtags, even though few people I know actually use them on Facebook. I have no idea why Meta decided not to allow the use of hashtags on Threads, particularly given hashtags originated on Twitter and are part of nearly every other microblogging service out there. Of course, while Threads do not have hashtags, they do have what they call "tags." Now Thread's tags do have one advantage over hashtags in that one can actually tag phrases in which the words have spaces between them. Unfortunately, that is about the only advantage they have over hashtags. Indeed, one can only use one tag per post. For example, if one were watching Out of the Past (1947) on Noir Alley on TCM, they might hashtag any live posts they made to Bluesky "#TCMParty #NoirAlley #OutOfThePast." On Threads they would have to choose only one of these tags for their post. Many people I know who live post movies on Bluesky generally use more than one hashtag per post. They will post a hasthag for the channel or show they are watching the movie on (for instance, #TCMParty or #Svengoolie) and the name of the movie (for instance,#Frankenstein). This is impossible on Threads.

Beyond limiting users to one tag per post, there is also a petty irritation regarding tags on Threads. Quite simply, tag searches are sorted by algorithm by default. and I am not sure there is any way to sort tag searches chronologically. Even if one can sort tags chronologically, the fact that they are sorted by algorithm by default is unappealing. Even on Twitter as it is now, one can click on "Following" and almost never see the algorithm sorted feed. I have to think Threads, being a Meta product, sorting tag searches chronologically is probably a bit more bit tricky. Of course, on Mastodon, Spoutible, and Bluesky there is no algorithm....

Ultimately, it seems clear that Threads is not for me, nor was it ever designed for people like me. Indeed, I have to wonder if Meta even meant for Threads to compete with Twitter and other microblogging services. It certainly seems different given its use of an algorithm and its use of "tags"instead of hashtags. At any rate, regardless of how much Meta might try to promote it in Instagram from time to time, I am not signing up for it.