When You Nuke Threads Your Instagram Dies Too—Here’s How To ‘Quit’ Safely

The latest buzz in the social media sphere is no doubt the launch of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter. Though founder Mark Zuckerberg seems to be going head-to-head with former Chief Twit Elon Musk, the application’s popularity is proof of the public’s search for an alternative.

Since its release, the Instagram-adjacent site has drawn over 30 million sign-ups, according to a recent post by Zuckerberg.

Of course, many of these accounts being created could be due to sheer curiosity, and it remains to be seen just how many active users will be left when the initial hype dies down. Those looking to ditch their Threads account after a while may find themselves in a pickle, however, as the only way to delete a profile completely is to nuke the linked Instagram account at the same time.

I’m muting this but here’s a screenshot pic.twitter.com/Ss0Cb3554n

— emily hughes ✨ (@emilyhughes) July 6, 2023

“You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account,” Meta explained in a Supplemental Privacy Policy.

Could this be a way to force users to retain accounts even if they’ve grown bored with the application? Perhaps, especially with Zuckerberg revealing that his goal for the platform is to have over a billion people on it.

Nonetheless, as per an update by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, those looking to take themselves off Threads can do so by deactivating their account, which will, in turn, hide their profile and content from the public.

Other ways of going incognito involve setting the profile to private or the time-consuming task of deleting all individual threads one by one. Going forward, Mosseri said the platform would look “into a way to delete your Thread account separately.”

Instagram's head clarifies the controversy surrounding the deletion of Thread accounts: pic.twitter.com/EeyxsayDwB

— ㆅ (@howfxr) July 6, 2023

[via TechCrunch and MacRumors, cover image via Rafael Henrique | Dreamstime.com]