Threads

Threads is Meta's text-based social app, launched as a counterpart to X and tied directly to Instagram accounts — which is how it reached a large user base almost immediately.

The Instagram link cuts both ways: signing up is frictionless and your existing following carries over, but the tone inherited from Instagram is lighter and less news-driven than X, so it has not become the place where breaking events are discussed.

It supports the ActivityPub protocol, meaning posts can federate with Mastodon and other decentralized servers — a notable difference from every other Meta product.