Why does everything have to be a conspiracy with some people? Threads literally and directly explains that it uses your Instagram account. They're the same account. Nothing crazy. No magic. No oogie boogie. Just the same account.
So think of it like a 'feature' of Instagram then. You can enable the feature or you can leave it disabled but either way its sharing user data and login information etc.
I don't think I'm missing any point. Have you used it? They're owned by the same company. Threads is separate but part of Instagram. Other than the user name being reserved on Threads in case the Instagram user wants to sign up, there isn't an account created. If you try to search the name of any of those accounts in Threads it doesn't come up at all.
(Edit: mistyped a word)
They're doing some dodgy stuff with your data, that's for sure. But the sign-up is smooth. Instagram has a LOT of users, and Meta is leveraging that and making it super easy to share to IG that you have made said threads account (and if you don't, they will do it for you). The FOMO is real.
They have taken the biggest challenge to use a new social media platform, rebuilding your spidery web of follows, mutuals, weird interests, and friends, and made it basically transparent. It's a UX marvel. The sign-up numbers reflect that IMO.
Sharing data of users from one company to another company without their consent is literally what GDPR exists to stop. Instagram is one company. Threads is another company.
If it isn't oogie boogie then it literally wouldn't have massive legislation against it preventing it worldwide for eu citizens.
That was the ruling [PDF] from the European Union's highest court, the Court of Justice, when it upheld a decision by German antitrust regulators that Meta had abused its dominance in social media by milking users for information and swirling it together to serve up ads to users.
If you bypass shit in the EU they slap you with something else and make an example of you.
None of the data other than the user name is shown in Threads until the user from Instagram activates their account. I've tried to look up a number of the people from Instagram on Threads and if they haven't signed up, then the search results are zero.
but they don’t create a public profile for users that don’t sign up? it uses the same handle as your Instagram. If you never activate Threads then nothing happens with your IG username on Threads
I did not try Threads so I do not know. The post suggests that your user handle appears as a suggestion of a profile to follow for other people even if you never signed up.
Also if you click one of the users who haven't signed up yet it just pre-queues your follow and says "You'll automatically follow then when/if they join threads"(I don't remember the exact wording here). This is blown out of proportion.
Your correct in a technical sense (eccept for mabe the fetaverse linkages) but not a semantic one,
Yes its absolutely technically true that people delete their unified account from the "other place to do so called threads account management page"
but semantically its a "new service" that they were "signed up for" with its own app, and if/when they delete their "threads account" everything else goes with it for some odd reason