# Threads by Meta 32 Hacker News commenters recommended Threads by Meta and 87 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended as a calmer, less political alternative to X with a large active user base; critics call it buggy, Instagram-tied and full of engagement bait. ## Why people recommend it - Large active user base (5 comments): "Threads is the only product they have launched in the last 5 years that anything close to successful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46658487)) "This is a PLUS for Threads, which organically is still close to Twitter/X's size." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47710688)) "has actually established a strong user base" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49940212)) - Calmer, less political feed (3 comments): "Threads was a much more neutral and inviting space that doesn't force you to wear a particular set of politics on your sleeves." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47055631)) "There seems to be a weighting in favour of stuff that isn't angry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46685101)) "Quite fun, less crowded and almost no politics on my feed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347402)) - Personal updates and programmer chat (2 comments): "The tech information I tend to get on Threads is more personal updates on mutuals' projects and niche eureka moments" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46686218)) "has recently been the most relevant place for me to casually chat with other programmers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48383008)) - Fediverse integration (2 comments): "It's got Activity Pub integration and you can follow Fediverse accounts already." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46684480)) "everyone that uses ActivityPub uses Threads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48604271)) ## What people warn about - Tied to Instagram, forced signups (3 comments): "but is an extension of instagram" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48559924)) "some finding community there (tho how they even arrived there is one thing (instagram forced) and Fediverse integration or wider instance support is questionable)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48863864)) "the majority of Threads users are Instagram users who ended up clicking through on the clickbait teasers Meta places inside of Instagram" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687298)) - Buggy, broken features and layouts (3 comments): "Threads is a buggy mess. It has been impossible to create an account on the platform in Europe for months because of a broken authentication system." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48204110)) "the '...' icon (under which 'save' is hidden) is so small that half the time clicking on it just clicks the entire thread" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48836773)) "does not load properly on firefox on phone. Most of images are missing and layout is all messed up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46664460)) - Engagement-bait and rage content (3 comments): "Thread's notifications are just plain weird like it is usually clickbait where you can't tell if they love Trump or hate Trump" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49264536)) "The advertisements within Instagram for Threads almost always seem to be fairly thinly disguised engagement & rage bait." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48560553)) "Their algorithm is great at surfacing posts that make me want to chime in with a correction" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47066492)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Bluesky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bluesky.md): 317 recommend - [Facebook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/facebook.md): 289 recommend - [Mastodon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastodon.md): 273 recommend - [X (formerly Twitter)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/x.md): 264 recommend - [Instagram](https://hackerapproved.com/p/instagram.md): 212 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.threads.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Threads by Meta", https://hackerapproved.com/p/threads/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).