Instagram Threads, Meta’s fast-growing social network and direct competitor to X, has officially relocated its online presence from Threads.net to the more familiar Threads.com domain. The move is part of an effort by the company to improve branding and accessibility, aligning with a variety of updates aimed at enhancing user experience on its web platform.
The Threads service initially debuted in July 2023 at Threads.net, as the Threads.com domain was already taken by a Sequoia-backed startup working on a competitor to Slack. Shopify subsequently acquired that startup last year, enabling Meta to purchase the Threads.com domain name in September 2024. For several months following that acquisition, visitors to Threads.com were redirected to Threads.net; starting today, that redirection has been reversed. Users who navigate to Threads.net are now automatically redirected to Threads.com, simplifying the access process significantly.
The updated Threads.com web app arrives with several quality-of-life improvements, reflecting user feedback and helping Threads compete more effectively with X. Instagram head Adam Mosseri detailed these new enhancements, which include improved access to custom feeds, saved posts, and liked content directly from the main navigation menu—removing the need for pinned columns to view these items.
Meta has also introduced handy tools to streamline user interactions, such as a new column icon on the right side for quickly adding content columns and a plus “+” button at the lower right corner for rapidly composing new posts. Additionally, there is now functionality allowing users to copy Threads posts in image format for easier sharing onto other platforms like Instagram, eliminating the hassle of screenshots.
Another significant enhancement is the feature introduced earlier this month, enabling users to easily find and follow their preferred content creators from X. Users can upload an archive of their X account data directly into Threads, making it simpler and quicker to re-establish connections with familiar creators. Currently, this function is still undergoing limited testing, and Meta will likely expand its availability after evaluating its initial performance.
Threads continues to grow steadily, boasting over 320 million monthly active users according to Meta’s earnings announcement last January, and these latest upgrades demonstrate the company’s commitment to evolving the platform and reinforcing its position within the competitive social media landscape.
