It’s interesting to see how quickly Meta has switched up its stance on DMs on Threads.
After initially resisting calls to add a messaging option to the app, and pushing users to utilize DMs on IG instead, Threads rolled out its own messaging option in July last year. It then expanded that to group chats in October, and has continued to add more DM features over time, as it looks to maximize Threads as a complete Twitter alternative, and continue to expand the user base of the app.
And now, Threads is looking to go even beyond other messaging options, by adding in-stream games into its messaging interface.
As you can see in this example, posted by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, Threads is working on a basketball shooting game that would be available within your chat option. The broader idea of the game, which you would control with simple swipes, would be to challenge your chat connections with simple games via DM.
Which could be an interesting way to boost DM engagement, and simple in-stream games like this have worked on other apps, like LinkedIn, which has seen solid levels of engagement with its puzzle games.
Though it does feel a little cheap, a little like juicing the numbers. More people spending more time in the app playing games will increase overall time spent, as well as return usage, and it feels a little misleading to tack this onto the app’s overall engagement stats.
But if it works, and makes the numbers look better, you can bet that platforms are going to try it, and it could be a fun addition, if it ever does get released.
Meta has confirmed (to TechCrunch) that it is experimenting with the option, but it hasn’t reached public testing stage as yet.
Meta’s also experimenting with live chats for Threads communities, which is another DM engagement expansion.
Again, it’s interesting to see how Meta has changed its approach to DMs on Threads, now that the threat of FTC action has been eliminated, and it no longer needs to weld all of its apps together to avoid a potential break-up.
For years, the FTC had been pursuing Meta over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, with the regulator looking to force Meta to divest the two companies, arguing that its acquisitions of both had significantly reduced competition in the digital ads market.
In response, Meta formulated a plan to merge all of its various DM inboxes (across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger) into one unified platform, which would then enable users to continue their conversations from any app in the other, etc. Which would have some level of efficiency benefit, but the main motivator seemed to be that it would tie all of Meta’s apps together, and make it impossible to detach IG or WhatsApp from its infrastructure, even if it was asked to.
Meta had been working towards its messaging merger for years, but went quiet on it in 2024. Then Meta finally won its case against the FTC in November last year, which has seemingly cleared the way for the company to take a step back from this plan, thereby enabling it to add DMs to Threads without having to worry about potentially plugging another DM platform into this integration.
It seems that this has now cleared the way for the Threads to team to experiment a little more with their DM options, now that they no longer need to build tools that will be compatible with every other Meta messaging platform.
Which could lead to some interesting experiments, and it’ll be interesting to see if these games do make it into actual production, and how Threads looks to give messaging its own unique touches.
