Meta is escalating its rivalry with X by rolling out long-form text attachments on Threads that support up to 10,000 characters, free for all users. The update is creator-focused and deliberately generous with outbound links, which appear prominently to drive readers to newsletters, blogs, podcasts, storefronts, or wherever the work actually lives.
The move draws a sharp contrast with X, where ultra-long posts are gated behind a paid tier and link visibility has been de-emphasized. Threads is betting that making length and linking frictionless will coax more substantive conversation and give creators a way to build audiences without abandoning their existing homes on the open web.
Built for creators who need room and reach
Until now, Threads capped posts at 500 characters, which was already more generous than the standard limit on X for non-subscribers. The new format—text attachments up to 10,000 characters—adds a dedicated canvas for longer thoughts, excerpts, and context, while keeping the main post scannable in the feed.
Meta says the feature was inspired by user workarounds: people were screenshotting text from articles, book pages, Substack posts, and podcast transcripts to share on Threads. Attachments formalize that habit and do something screenshots can’t—make the link to the source unmistakable and easy to tap.
Expect authors to preview chapters and push preorders, journalists to tease deep dives with key findings and a link, and newsletter writers to surface top paragraphs without surrendering their email lists. For creators who monetize off-platform, the visible link is the feature, not an afterthought.
A strategic contrast with X’s long-form path
X has encouraged long-form publishing within its walls by offering extremely high character limits to paid subscribers and by downplaying external links in the interface. Publishers and analysts have documented declines in referral traffic from X following UI and policy shifts that make links less obvious, with firms like Chartbeat and Similarweb noting a sustained drop in click-throughs to news sites.
There’s also the trust factor: onlookers have seen high-profile episodes where links to rival platforms were throttled or blocked, creating uncertainty for creators who depend on consistent distribution. Threads, by contrast, is explicitly positioning outbound linking as a core capability, not a concession.
The timing matters. Meta has said Threads surpassed 175 million monthly active users, and the service increasingly draws real-time chatter previously associated with X. Longer, link-forward posts give that attention somewhere durable to land—and they may entice creators who want reach without paywalls or platform lock-in.
Trade-offs: search visibility and federation
There are caveats. Meta says the content inside these text attachments won’t be indexed by search engines like Google at launch, which limits discoverability beyond the app. For writers optimizing for SEO, the canonical version still needs to live on the open web—and Threads becomes the teaser and traffic driver, not the archive.
Attachments also won’t federate yet. Threads’ ActivityPub integration allows posts to reach the broader fediverse (including Mastodon) and lets users on other servers follow, like, and discover content. Keeping attachments non-federated means the longest content will remain siloed within Threads for now. Meta says federation for long-form is on the roadmap, which, if delivered, would be a notable bridge between a mainstream social app and decentralized networks endorsed by standards bodies like the W3C.
What success will look like
For creators: higher click-through rates on links compared with screenshot-based posts, better conversion to subscriptions and sales, and fewer incentives to buy ads just to make outbound links visible. Watch for case studies from newsletter platforms and book publishers as early adopters measure preorders, opens, and paid conversions tied to Threads posts.
For Threads: more time spent in-app without forcing all content to be native, richer conversations that move beyond quips, and a clearer value proposition for professionals who want distribution without surrendering ownership. If prominent links reverse the broader decline in social referrals documented by publishers and research groups such as the Reuters Institute, Threads will have a differentiated story to tell.
For X: added pressure to justify the paywall on long-form and the trade-offs around linking. If creators find that free length plus visible links on Threads outperforms paid perks on X, the talent marketplace for real-time commentary could rebalance.
Bottom line
By making 10,000-character text attachments free and foregrounding outbound links, Threads is competing on creator friendliness rather than lock-in. The approach acknowledges that the open web still pays the bills—and that social networks win when they help audiences find it.