Threads to Show Online Status by Default

If you use Meta’s X competitor Threads, you’ll soon be able to see when someone is online with their “activity status”

Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, announced the feature in a Threads post on Tuesday. He said it would be “a way to help you find others to engage with in real-time.”

People with the feature turned on will be the only ones who can see when you’re online, which is good.

Regarding showing real-time events and trends, Threads has been behind X (formerly Twitter) since it started last year. On X, it’s easier to find reactions and answers to live events like earthquakes and award shows than on Threads. Threads are trying to get more people to use its app in real-time by adding this new feature.

One way to look at the activity state is as Threads’ answer to the fact that the platform doesn’t have any direct messages (DMs). You can send someone a message on X to start a discussion. Because you can’t do that on Threads, Meta is looking for ways to make it easier for people to talk on the social network. Mosseri says the business thinks “that knowing when your people are online makes it easier to talk to them.”

Of course, not everyone will want other people to know when they’re online. Usually, messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Discord are the only ones that let you set an activity state, not apps like X.

Many users don’t want this feature, as shown by Mosseri’s announcement post comments. Some have asked for direct messages (DMs) instead, pointing out that an activity status feature doesn’t make sense if you can’t directly message the person.

Some people also say that the function might put some users in danger. A troll may bother you even more if they know you’re active on the site and are already being bothered by them.

The tool is being rolled out today, so you might not see it yet. Mosseri didn’t tell users how to disable the feature, but it’s possible that they’ll have to go to the app’s settings page to do it.