Threads now offers simplified sharing to Instagram

Threads now offers simplified sharing to Instagram

Threads is looking to make it easier to re-share posts to Instagram Stories with an improved sharing flow that enables sharing without leaving the Threads app.

As shown in these images, the share button on a public Threads post offers the option to immediately add it to an Instagram Story, with the Threads post automatically formatted into a basic, full-screen Stories frame.

Posting directly post from Threads in this way means that you can’t edie the post before it goes live, so it will appear on IG Stories as displayed, in a simple, empty-looking Stories template. But it will make it easier to re-share Threads, which could be handy for some updates.

Meta has been looking to promote cross-posting from Threads to IG Stories for some time, via full-screen prompts which ask users if they want to re-share their latest Threads posts to Stories as well.

These prompts, which pop up every other time that a Thread is posted, look to use the lure of more engagement to prompt cross-posting. That, ideally (at least from Meta’s perspective), will then see more content flowing through to Stories, which leads to more promotion for Threads and more content for IG.

As such, there’s clearly strong motivation for Meta to push for this, though I’m not sure that Instagram Stories users are getting a heap out of seeing re-shared Threads updates, especially via these blank-looking Threads sharing templates.

Users who go into the Instagram app before sharing can dress these up by adding stickers and effects. But looking at the generic template, it kind of feels like they should probably remain separate.

Another consideration, in terms of brands re-sharing their own updates, is that if people follow profiles on both Threads and IG, they’re potentially going to see the exact same update on Threads and in Stories.

Maybe, given the expanded exposure potential, that’s still worth the potential downsides, but it’s another thing to keep in mind. It might be better to save up Stories re-shares for the best-performing Threads posts (which can be shared to IG Stories any time after publishing).

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