Meta Threads is starting to make its API available online, although it will be some time before it is widely available to developers. The company has begun testing the new developer tools with several companies, Meta engineer Jesse Chen said. About Threads.
According to Chen, whose writing was first noted by TechCrunch, It’s currently in ‘beta’, but a wider rollout could come ‘end of June’. The initial group of companies beta testing the API includes social media management platforms Sprinklr, Hootsuite, Social News Desk and Sprout Social. Meta also works with tech news aggregator Techmeme and live video platform Grabyo. For now, it appears that the API will primarily allow Threads to publish content from these services, but Chen said there are also plans to “enable response moderation and insight capabilities.”
Having an API could help Threads attract more publishers and power users, who often rely on third-party apps for hosting and analytics. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has previously said he doesn’t want to involve publishers. His “concern” was that a dedicated API would “mean more publisher content and not more creator content.” (There is Mosseri he doesn’t want to “amplify the news on the platform”.)
But with users, Threads is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to X, and offering professional-grade tools is a good way to get publishers and brands to get more placements on the platform. Having an API can potentially help a company’s interoperability support plans and the rest although Meta has not explicitly discussed the API in this context.
