Threads adds Live Chats for real-time discussion around events

Threads is moving closer to live, event-driven conversation with a new Live Chats feature that lets users exchange messages, photos, videos, links and emoji reactions in real time. Meta said the format is designed to make Threads more timely and relevant around cultural moments and live events, with rollout expected in the app over the next few weeks.

Connor Hayes, who heads Threads, previewed the feature at Coachella, underscoring Meta’s push to tie the app to moments people are already discussing as they unfold. Early use cases point to sports and entertainment, including live chats inside Threads communities for the NBA playoffs. The company is also framing Live Chats as part of the same broad push that has already given Threads more ways to keep users talking inside the app instead of drifting elsewhere.

That push has come in steps. Threads introduced direct messages on July 1, 2025, then added support for photos, videos, GIFs and stickers. On Oct. 15, 2025, Meta rolled out group chats for up to 50 people and expanded messaging to the European Union. In October 2025, Threads Communities were being tested across more than 100 topics, creating public spaces for discussion around interests such as basketball and TV. In February 2026, Meta added Dear Algo, a tool that lets users temporarily tell Threads what they want to see more or less of for three days, including during live sports or other fast-moving events.

The new feature also reflects a broader strategic question for Meta: whether Threads can become a real-time venue for live news and cultural conversation without inheriting the harassment, misinformation and moderation failures that have long shadowed volatile social platforms. That risk matters most when conversations are happening at the speed of a game, a concert or breaking news.

Threads launched in July 2023 as a text-first app tied to Instagram, with posts up to 500 characters and videos up to 5 minutes long. Meta later added fediverse interoperability and a new web experience as it tried to strengthen discovery and real-time conversation. Live Chats now extend that effort, putting Threads in a direct contest to become a place where people gather while events are still happening, not after the moment has already passed.