Meta has been experimenting with a new feature that allows users to cross-post from Instagram and Facebook to Threads, their social networking platform that competes with X (formerly known as Twitter). TechCrunch has confirmed that this feature has now been officially rolled out globally to all countries where Threads is available.
This cross-posting capability is part of Meta’s larger strategy to maximize the content shared across its family of apps. Meta has been allowing users to share Facebook posts to Instagram and vice versa for years. In 2023, the company even experimented with automatically displaying suggested Threads posts on Instagram and Facebook (this option can now be turned off).
By connecting Threads more closely to Meta’s app ecosystem with billions of users, this new feature could potentially boost Threads’ popularity even further. Threads has recently surpassed 200 million active users.
How to cross-post Instagram images to Threads
To cross-post Instagram images to Threads, users can enable the option when posting an image by toggling on the Threads sharing button. The image caption will become the text for the Threads post, and hashtags will convert into plain text.
Users have the choice to cross-post once or set up automatic sharing for all posts. This feature is available on both iOS and Android devices globally, but there is currently no option to cross-post Instagram Reels to Threads.
How to cross-post Threads posts to Facebook
Facebook users can now cross-post threads using the new feature that started rolling out in late February. Similar to Instagram cross-posting, users can enable the Threads option when creating a post. This feature is available for text and link posts, but not videos, and can be used on both Android and iOS devices in countries where Threads is available.
What is the purpose of cross-posting?
Cross-posting from Instagram and Facebook to Threads can simplify the posting process for content creators, social media managers, and businesses, saving them time and effort. Instead of creating separate content for each platform, they can reach multiple audiences simultaneously with the same post.
However, it’s essential to consider whether posting the same content across platforms is suitable for all posts, as some content may not translate well. For example, hashtags in an Instagram post may appear as plain text on Threads because Threads doesn’t use hashtags.
