Meta, the Company that Owns Messaging Service Instagram, Has Announced that It Will Be Shutting Down Threads

As Meta has confirmed to TechCrunch, Instagram‘s stand-alone messaging service Threads will be shut down at the end of 2021. To encourage users to return to Instagram, the app will display a message November 23rd.

Instagram DMs could be sent and received using Threads, a messaging app that was similar in concept to Facebook Messenger. An assortment of quirky features, including automatic statuses that the app could set for you based on what your phone was doing. By the time Threads shuts down, all of those tools will be available in Instagram, the company said in a statement to TechCrunch.

As a result, Meta is also attempting to streamline its various messaging platforms. Messages can now be exchanged between Facebook Messenger and Instagram, and the company has stated that it plans to add WhatsApp in the future. It may become less relevant as the lines between Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp become more blurry.