On 1 October 2026 Threads began testing a new kind of quote post with a small group of creators. Testers can place a Threads post on top of a photo or video, chosen from posts they have liked, saved or written, and add stickers, try layouts or split a photo into up to nine parts. A new Quote option appears in the editing menu for attached images. Threads' own account said this is just the foundation for more creative tools.
Social Media Today compared it with TikTok's green screen and X's video reactions. There is no date for a wider launch.
How big Threads is now
Meta announced 500 million monthly active users on 16 June 2026 and repeated the figure on its second quarter earnings call on 29 July. The growth has been steady: 320 million in January 2025, 350 million in April 2025 and more than 400 million in January 2026. The most recent official daily figure is more than 150 million, from late 2025.
Comparisons with X need care. Claims that Threads overtook X in daily mobile users in January 2026 come from third-party app data, not Meta, and X's own user figures have not been independently verified either.
Ads on Threads
On 21 January 2026 Meta announced ads for all Threads users worldwide, rolling out gradually over the following months, and said ad load would start low. What advertisers get:
- Image, video and carousel ads, including the 4:5 format, plus Advantage+ catalogue and app ads.
- Management in Ads Manager alongside Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, so Threads can be added as a placement to existing campaigns.
- No need for a separate Threads profile: brands can advertise using their Instagram account.
No source we found mentioned the UAE or the wider Gulf specifically. Gulf advertisers fall under the global rollout, and Dubai trade press covered it as such. Meta's finance chief said in April 2026 that Threads is not expected to be a meaningful driver of revenue growth this year, which is another way of saying the inventory is still young and the competition for it light.
Should a Gulf brand be on Threads?
For most brands with an active Instagram account, the cost of trying is low. Threads accounts are tied to Instagram, so the audience is partly the same people, and the format rewards conversation more than polished visuals.
- Post there if the brand has something to say every day: news, opinions, behind the scenes, quick answers to customers. Threads punishes silence more than it rewards production values.
- Reuse ideas, not posts. A caption written for Instagram rarely works as a Threads post.
- Add Threads as a placement in an existing Meta campaign and compare its cost per result with Instagram before giving it its own budget.
- Watch the visual quote post test. If it launches widely, quoting a creator's post over your own product photo becomes a simple new format for brand replies and reactions.
- Keep reporting separate. Threads results lumped in with Instagram hide whether the channel is worth the time.
The caption and hashtag checker on this site shows how a caption reads at each platform's limit, a quick check before rewriting an Instagram caption for Threads.
