I suspect it's because instagram is their brand with the most positive perceptions. FB is seen as old and meta is all about the metaverse.

Simple: Facebook and Meta have garbage reputation compared to Instagram brand.

The public associates Facebook/Meta with excessive data collection, overhyped VR, intrusive tracking, etc. That association is much weaker with Instagram.

Funnily enough, I scrolled to the "Data Linked to You" section and was not disappointed.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Instagram actually is any better than Meta/Facebook - but that their public perception isn't as disasterously tainted.

It's interesting. In media, Instagram is often portrayed as a device for young teens to feel insecure about themselves, leading to suicides and depressions, and the lack of any meaningful intervention by Meta/Instagram. Is that really a better public perception than privacy violations? Realistically looking at this, I doubt they'd get much of the Mastodon crowd, which is, grossly exaggerating, mostly tech and LGBTQ. So what remains is "normal" people who care about "normal" topics. I doubt these people care much about privacy (most of them are already on FB and Instagram).

Everything but your DNA, and if they could ask for that I’m sure they would

They wouldn’t need to ask for it, they’d just buy one of those diy-gene-test/family-history companies.

10% off if you use your IG handle

But that’s spending money. Easier if users give it away for free without a second’s thought

Seems like the Instagram handle will be the Threads handle. IG, like Twitter rely on the handle concept, whereas Facebook never really did in the same manner.

Yes, this is the answer for sure. You can get a good username on it, because you have one on Instagram. That's a big deal for a lot of people, I think.

Also makes verification mean a lot more

"Instagram" and "WhatsApp" are their brands that have positive perception. "Facebook," "Meta," and "Mark Zuckerberg" have negative perception.

Instagram's brand name is much less tarnished than fb/meta.

On Instagram your social graph is already about following people you don't know.

On Facebook your experience is mainly your grandmother trying to write messages to you by typing them into any random thread or text box she sees.

It uses the existing Instagram user database. No need to get a new username.

What a shame. The biggest benefit of being an early adopter is reserving a username you've used for years or decades on other platforms.

You had that chance when Instagram launched I guess? I missed out but got my domain name instead

The following social graph of Instagram is much more skewed toward celebrities than on Facebook I’m guessing

Because Twitter is a pseudo-anonymous service similar to Instagram unlike Facebook.

Also it uses the Instagram infrastructure e.g. auth and design language.