Meta Expands Threads with 50-Person Group Chats to Rival X

Meta is continuing its quiet war with X (formerly Twitter) by bringing long-requested group chats to its text-based app, Threads. The update marks another milestone in Meta’s effort to turn Threads from a stripped-down conversation app into a self-sustaining social platform with genuine community-building tools.

Starting this week, users can create group chats for up to 50 people – a modest but important step that signals Meta’s ambitions to keep users from drifting back to X or Discord for private conversations.

The rollout of Threads group chats comes just months after Meta reintroduced direct messaging to the platform in July, roughly two years after Threads first appeared as an Instagram-linked experiment. These new chats allow anyone to start a private conversation with followers and assign a custom name to the group. Meta also confirmed that a link-invite feature is on the way, meaning users will soon be able to invite new members without manually searching for them – a small but useful convenience.

Threads expands in Europe
In addition to group messaging, Meta is expanding Threads’ full messaging functionality to users in the European Union. EU users now get the same experience as everyone else, complete with individual and group messaging, privacy settings, and the ability to share photos, videos, and other media directly inside the app. Considering the EU’s stricter data regulations, this expansion underscores Meta’s growing confidence in Threads as a compliant, global-ready product.

Why this matters
Meta’s timing isn’t accidental. While Threads initially positioned itself as a friendly alternative to X, the app’s lack of core communication tools made it hard to compete. X has supported group direct messages for years, with room for up to 256 participants – far more than Threads’ current 50-person limit. But Meta’s strategy appears to prioritize steady, sustainable growth over flashy rollouts. Group chats are less about innovation and more about infrastructure – about creating a reason for people to stay, talk, and build communities inside the platform rather than hopping elsewhere.

What this means for users
For the growing number of creators, fandoms, and niche communities forming on Threads, group chats could be transformative. Instead of relying solely on public posts and replies, users can now organize small discussion spaces – ideal for fans of specific shows, games, or even neighborhood groups. This move aligns with Meta’s broader philosophy of merging public interaction with private intimacy, mirroring how Facebook Groups once fueled community growth.

But is it enough?
Critics are calling this update overdue. Group chats are a basic social feature that competitors like Telegram, WhatsApp, and even Reddit-based communities have offered for years. Yet, Threads’ slow evolution might be part of Meta’s deliberate long game: build stability, test features quietly, and expand gradually rather than rushing headlong into feature bloat. It’s not an explosive innovation, but for a platform still defining its purpose, it’s progress that matters.

The bottom line
Threads is slowly finding its rhythm. The addition of group chats doesn’t revolutionize the app, but it makes it feel more alive and connected. It’s one more sign that Meta is serious about turning Threads into a genuine rival for X – not through shock value, but through patient development and community-building tools that make people want to stay.