Do you need an Instagram account to use Threads?

A new social media site is vying for Twitter’s crown, and its chances of genuinely unseating the spiraling site are looking surprisingly good.

That’s more due to Twitter’s downfalls than Threads‘ prospects, of course, but that doesn’t change the growing interest in Meta’s fresh app. The social media behemoth already owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and the addition of Threads could just make it a quadruple threat. That’s if Threads can actually make itself into proper competition for Twitter, a potential that still feels rather unlikely, as the app works to sort out its bugs and collect fresh users.

That second part is vital, since no social media site can thrive without the “social” aspect of the name. And without people, there can be no socializing, which is leading Threads to initiate a push for exasperated Twitter users to make the switch. Many are doing just that, exhausted by Elon Musk’s poor management of the former social titan, but they’re hitting snags in the sign up process.

Do you need Instagram to set up Threads?

Threads is still brand new, so its bound to experience plenty of hurdles over the coming months, as it smooths out issues and addresses user feedback. The site is still odd, and difficult to navigate, as users find themselves lambasted by whatever errant thought random strangers are posting at that specific moment, and unable to properly curate what kind of material shows up on their feed.

These issues are almost guaranteed to be rectified over the coming months, but one persistent issue is stopping users up. When it comes time to actually create a Threads account, quite a few users are struggling to get past a base issue: The need for an Instagram account.

That’s right, an Instagram account is required to set up a Threads account. Meta owns Instagram, after all, and is likely looking to make the process easier by linking the already-established site with its new release. If you’re not currently an Instagram user, you’ll have to wait on a future version of Threads (should that ever come) that allows users to create an account without linking back to Instagram, or simply bite the bullet and take the Instagram plunge.