Live Chats on Threads: Real-Time Public Group Chats for Cultural Moments
Threads is expanding with Live Chats—the public group chats that let fans and creators discuss cultural moments as they happen. Whether it’s an album drop, a game night, or a major pop culture event, Live Chats aim to foster community around shared passions in real time.
What Live Chats are and how they feel
- Real-time conversations during moments as they unfold, making it easier to ride the wave of excitement together.
- A profile ring signals when someone is live, plus dynamic features like real-time polls, countdowns, and typing indicators keep the chatter lively.
- Live scores help synchronize discussions with ongoing games so conversations stay in step with the action.
- Chats are public and discoverable from the start, designed to amplify the moment rather than dwell on it afterward.
Launching with NBAThemes: who’s hosting and where to find them
- The NBAThreads Community will kick things off during the Playoffs, with hosts including prominent voices like Malika Andrews, Rachel Nichols, Trysta Krick, David Rushing, and Lexis Mickens guiding the conversations.
- To find a Live Chat, look at the top of the NBAThreads Community feed or click through from a shared post on your main Threads feed.
- Live Chats in other Communities will roll out in the coming months. Hosts show up with a red live ring around their profile photos to mark a live discussion.
How to join, participate, and what happens after
- Once you join a chat, you can send text messages and share photos, videos, and links. You can also react with emojis and participate in polls.
- If a chat is full, you can still watch, react, and vote in polls. Even after a chat ends, the conversation remains publicly discoverable.
- You can watch the chat unfold, then revisit highlights later as part of Threads’ public conversation history.
Tips to get started as a host or participant
- Live Chats are hosted by a curated group of creators, including Community Champions who actively spark discussion within Threads.
- Eligible hosts can schedule a Live Chat by opening the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of their Community and selecting “Schedule a Live Chat.”
- From there, you can name the chat, set a start and end time, and invite people to join. You can also promote the chat by sharing it to your Threads feed and Instagram Story.
What’s on the horizon
- The experience will evolve with new features, including co-hosting, play-by-play content with real-time updates, and lock screen widgets that surface current Live Chats activity.
- Soon you’ll be able to quote and share individual chat messages on your Threads feed, helping to spread memorable moments or hot takes.
A gradual rollout to broaden the reach
- The rollout starts with the NBAThreads Community to test and refine how people engage around live moments.
- The plan is to extend Live Chats to additional communities on Threads, learning from early feedback to improve how hosts connect with fans in real time.
We’re excited to bring people closer to the moments that matter. Live Chats are designed to amplify real-time conversations and build stronger communities around shared interests, starting with basketball and expanding to other cultural moments as the feature matures.