Threads is rolling out group messaging capabilities that allow users to create conversations with up to 50 followers. The feature arrives alongside expanded availability in the European Union, where Meta is launching the entire messaging suite including individual and group DMs, privacy controls, and media sharing support.
Creating group chats works straightforwardly: start a new message and add anyone who follows you on Threads. Meta plans to introduce shareable links “soon” that followers can click to join group conversations, eliminating the need to add participants individually. Like messaging apps, group chats support custom names that reflect their topic or purpose.
Messaging Expands to European Union
The EU rollout brings Threads messaging to a major market that’s been waiting since the feature launched in July. European users will gain immediate access to the complete messaging feature set rather than receiving it incrementally. This includes individual DMs, group conversations, messaging controls, privacy settings, the hidden spam folder, and support for photos, videos, and GIFs.
Meta’s decision to launch messaging in the EU with full feature parity suggests the company learned from its initial rollout approach. Rather than introducing a basic messaging system and gradually adding capabilities, EU users get the mature version that’s evolved through months of refinement based on user feedback and usage patterns.
The timing also reflects Meta’s confidence in the feature’s stability and compliance with EU regulations, which are typically more stringent regarding privacy and data handling than other markets. Launching a complete messaging suite in the EU signals that Meta has addressed the technical and regulatory requirements necessary for operating communication features in the region.
Building Toward Meta’s Next Major Platform
Emily Dalton Smith, Meta’s Head of Product for Threads, revealed that the platform now reaches 400 million monthly active users and is “on track to become Meta’s next major app.” That growth trajectory explains why messaging—the most requested feature since Threads launched—finally arrived despite not being a priority in the platform’s early days.
The sequencing makes strategic sense. Threads needed to establish itself as a viable social platform before adding private communication features. Building a user base, refining the public posting experience, and creating engagement patterns all took precedence over messaging when the platform was finding its footing. Once those foundations solidified, adding private communication became logical rather than premature.
The 400 million user milestone positions Threads as a significant platform rather than an experimental project. For context, that’s roughly half of Twitter’s peak active user count and approaching the scale where network effects become self-reinforcing. At this scale, group messaging becomes particularly valuable because users have enough connections on the platform to make private conversations worthwhile.
Messaging Evolution Since July Launch
Since introducing DMs in July, Meta has steadily expanded messaging capabilities based on what users actually need for practical communication. The initial release provided basic text messaging, but subsequent updates added media support, spam filtering, and privacy controls that transform messaging from basic to genuinely useful.
Photos, videos, and GIFs enable richer communication than text alone, particularly for sharing moments, reactions, or visual content that words can’t convey effectively. These formats have become standard in modern messaging apps, and their absence would make Threads messaging feel incomplete compared to alternatives users already rely on.
The messaging requests folder addresses the unwanted message problem that plagues open social platforms. Not everyone who can send you a message should land directly in your main inbox. Request folders create a buffer where you can review messages from people you don’t follow before deciding whether to engage, reducing harassment and spam exposure.
The hidden spam folder takes this further by automatically filtering messages that Meta’s systems identify as likely spam or abuse. This proactive filtering prevents your requests folder from becoming overwhelming while still preserving the option to review filtered messages in case legitimate communication gets caught by mistake.
Privacy settings that disable message requests from people you don’t follow represent the most restrictive option for users who want to limit communication to established connections. This setting essentially makes your DMs invitation-only, similar to how some users configure their social media accounts for maximum privacy.
Group Messaging Adds New Use Cases
Group DMs unlock communication patterns that individual messaging can’t support. Coordinating with multiple people simultaneously, maintaining ongoing conversations with friend groups or colleagues, and sharing content with specific audiences all become possible once group messaging exists.
The 50-participant limit strikes a balance between utility and manageability. Groups larger than 50 people tend to become chaotic, with conversation threading breaking down and notifications becoming overwhelming. Most practical group conversations—friend groups, project teams, event coordination—fit comfortably within this limit.
Custom group names help manage multiple group conversations by making them distinguishable at a glance. Without custom names, groups appear as lists of participant names that become unwieldy as participant count increases. Naming groups based on their purpose—”Weekend Plans,” “Project Launch Team,” “Book Club”—creates organization that generic participant lists lack.
The upcoming shareable link feature will streamline group creation for larger gatherings. Rather than manually adding 30 people to a group one by one, you can share a link through other channels (another social platform, email, a public post) and let interested participants join themselves. This approach works particularly well for semi-open groups where you want to invite followers broadly without individually selecting each member.
Mobile-Only Limitation Persists
Despite the expanded functionality, Threads messaging remains confined to mobile devices. There’s no desktop interface for sending or receiving DMs, limiting the feature’s utility for users who work primarily on computers or prefer typing on full keyboards.
This mobile-only approach aligns with Meta’s apparent vision of Threads as a mobile-first platform, but it creates friction compared to messaging apps that work seamlessly across devices. When you’re at a computer, needing to switch to your phone to respond to a Threads message interrupts workflow in ways that desktop-accessible messaging doesn’t.
The limitation particularly affects professional use cases. Content creators, community managers, and others who use Threads for business purposes often work from computers where managing large volumes of messages would be easier with full keyboards and larger screens. The lack of desktop support constrains how seriously these users can treat Threads as a communication platform for work.
Whether Meta plans to add desktop messaging remains unclear. The company hasn’t announced plans, but the feature seems like a natural evolution as Threads matures and messaging becomes more central to the platform experience. For now, users must accept mobile as the only option for private communication.
Competitive Context and Strategic Positioning
Threads’ messaging evolution occurs against a backdrop where every major social platform offers private communication. Twitter/X has DMs, Instagram has messaging, TikTok has messaging, even LinkedIn prioritizes its messaging features. For Threads to compete seriously, messaging isn’t optional—it’s table stakes.
What differentiates messaging implementations is the feature depth and user experience quality. Basic text messaging satisfies minimal requirements but doesn’t create preference or loyalty. Rich media support, effective spam filtering, granular privacy controls, and group conversations transform messaging from a checkbox feature into something users actually want to use.
Meta’s advantage comes from extensive messaging experience through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram DMs. The company understands messaging product development, has battle-tested spam and abuse systems, and can apply those learnings to Threads rather than starting from scratch. This expertise shows in how quickly Threads messaging evolved from basic to feature-rich.
The group DM launch particularly matters for creating network effects. Once friend groups or communities establish group chats on Threads, those conversations create gravity that keeps people checking the app and engaging with the platform. Group conversations become social anchors that individual DMs can’t replicate, deepening user investment in the platform.
What This Means for Threads Users
For the 400 million people using Threads monthly, group messaging expands what the platform can do beyond public posting. Coordinating meetups, discussing topics privately with interested followers, and maintaining ongoing conversations with specific groups all become possible within the app you’re already using for public social activity.
The EU launch matters particularly for European users who’ve watched messaging roll out elsewhere while remaining unavailable in their region. Getting full feature parity immediately rather than catching up gradually means EU users can jump directly into mature messaging without experiencing the early rough edges that initial launch markets encountered.
The mobile-only limitation remains the most significant constraint. Users who split time between phones and computers will find Threads messaging less convenient than alternatives offering seamless device switching. This friction may limit how central Threads messaging becomes to daily communication compared to truly cross-platform options.
As Threads continues evolving toward becoming one of Meta’s major platforms, messaging likely receives ongoing attention and iteration. Group DMs represent a significant milestone, but probably not the endpoint. Features like voice messages, video calls, or broader desktop support could follow as Meta invests in making Threads messaging genuinely competitive with established alternatives.
For now, group messaging transforms Threads from a platform where you can message people one-on-one into a platform where you can have ongoing group conversations—a meaningful expansion of utility that brings the app closer to parity with social platforms that treat messaging as central rather than supplementary.