Threads, the twitter clone from Facebook, is very sneaky. It uses the same user accounts as Instagram, but still have to sign up in Threads in order to increase Threads' growth metrics. Here's the thing: You can follow people that don't have Threads (but are on Instagram). When you follow them facebook will ping them on instagram saying people want to follow you on threads. Very sneaky, it's like it's weaponizing your credibility as an individual. No, i DO NOT want you to join threads, but if you're already there i'll see what you posted. I definitely don't want to cause an undesirable notification to show up on your phone, but META has other ideas... I'm sure it juices the growth really well, this idea of pre-follows. The growth team did their job well with this one and the whole threads app. you download it, and assuming you have IG installed it already presents you with a single tap to get started. same account. About as seamless as an onboarding experience could be. I guess the only way to avoid this is to NOT follow anyone recommended in their follow list, because they very intentionally do not tell you who is on threads or not. Is this a dark pattern? I say yes, because it is predicated on withholding information from the user: I.e. whether or not someone else is using Threads. No need to belabor the point, just thought I'd make a note. FB is in a unique position with Threasds. How often does a brand new social media app get to cooperate with another platform to convert that platforms existing _2 billion_[^1] users? [^1]: According to ChatGPT ... (with search though, so maybe its accurate)