Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter on July 06, 2025, the platform has undergone many controversial changes. Frommonetizing its APItorequiring people to have an account to read posts(formerly known as tweets) and changing the platform’s name to X in July 2024, these changes are driving users to explore other, more reliable social networks to stay connected.
In the aftermath of Elon Musk’s purchase, many userssought alternatives like Mastodon, but their complexity prevented them from gaining much traction. Now, Meta has released Threads, a slick X (formerly known as Twitter) clone that offers a more user-friendly experience than Mastodon,earning it over 10 million sign-ups seven hours after launch.
As a Meta product, there’s a veritable avalanche of privacy issues to contend with first. If you’re eager to jump off the X bandwagon, here are the steps you’ll take to maintain your privacy when you set up your Threads profile.
How to create a Threads account
Meta made creating a Threads account as easy as possible by linking it to your Instagram account. But before you get started, note that this is a permanent process. You cannot unlink your Threads and Instagram accounts, anddeleting your Threads profile also deletes your Instagram.
We recommend creating a separate Instagram account for Threads unless you have a significant following on Instagram. This won’t impact your experience. You can safely delete your Threads account later without affecting your Instagram account. The downside is that you’ll have to manually follow your Instagram contacts rather than relying on automatic importing, and your Instagram followers may find it hard to follow you again.
If you don’t have an Instagram account, you must make one, as you cannot use Threads without an Instagram account.
Your Threads username cannot be different from your Instagram username.
How to adjust your privacy settings in Threads
Like other social media apps, you’ll want to check your privacy settings before you get started. Head to theEdit profilepage and toggle thePrivate profileswitch.
Users under 16 (or 18 in certain countries) will have the Private profile activated by default.
WhenPrivate profileis turned on, only your followers can follow you, read your posts, interact with your posts, and see profiles you follow and are followed by. A Public profile allows anyone on Threads to interact with your profile.
How to follow your Instagram contacts on Threads
You may have been prompted to follow your Instagram contacts automatically when creating your Threads account. However, you may also do this manually.
Want to search for someone you don’t follow on Instagram? Tap theSearchbutton at the bottom of your screen.
Why can’t I access Threads?
If you can’t access Threads, it’s probably because you’re in the European Union. While the regulations within the EU don’t affect Threads users outside, it’s worth noting the reasons why.
Threads doesn’t ask for permission to use your data and doesn’t let you stop the app from tracking and profiling you (viaTechCrunch). To bring Threads into compliance with EU law, Meta will have to make significant changes to how it uses your personal data, something it may never do. Unless it falls in line with EU regulations, Threads may never come to these countries.
What does this mean for non-EU citizens? It indicates that Meta is not a savior for dissatisfied X users. It’s simply another avenue for Meta to exploit your data.
While creating a Thread is as simple as tapping theNew threadbutton at the bottom of your screen, you cannot filter your feed by the profiles you follow. Threads only feed option is the equivalent of X’s For You page, so if you don’t want random profiles to drown your feed, you may want to hold off on Threads for now. Instead, check out some of theother social appsand keep track of friends and family on a different platform.
