Meta’s X rival Threads is rolling out a new “activity status” feature that will let you see when someone on the social network is online. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the feature on Tuesday in a Threads post, noting that it’s meant to act as “a way to help you find others to engage with in real-time.”
Thankfully, you can turn the setting off, and only users who have the feature turned on will be able to see when you’re online.
Since its launch last year, Threads has lagged behind X (formerly Twitter) when it comes to surfacing real-time events and trends. It’s easier to find real-time reactions and responses to live events like awards shows and earthquakes on X than it is on Threads. With this new feature, Threads is attempting to boost real-time activity on its app.
Activity status could also be seen as Threads’ answer to the platform’s lack of DMs (direct messages). On X, when you want to start a conversation with someone, you can just send them a message. Since you can’t do that on Threads, Meta is looking for ways to facilitate conversations on the social network. Mosseri says that the company hopes “that knowing when your people are online makes it easier to have conversations.”
Of course, not everyone will want others to know when they’re online, as activity status features are traditionally reserved for messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and Discord, not platforms like X.
A quick look at the responses to Mosseri’s announcement post indicates that many users don’t actually want this feature, with some asking for DMs instead, noting that an activity status feature doesn’t make sense if you can’t directly message the person.
Some also point out that the feature could put some users at risk. For instance, if you’re being harassed by a troll, they may harass you even more knowing that you’re currently active on the platform.
The feature is rolling out starting today, so you might not see it just yet. Mosseri didn’t inform users on how to turn off the feature, but users will likely have to navigate through the app’s settings page to do so.
