diff --git a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@
 type SharedCreatePendingSidebarInput = {
   +sourceMessageInfo: ComposableMessageInfo | RobotextMessageInfo,
   +parentThreadInfo: ThreadInfo,
-  +viewerID: string,
+  +loggedInUserInfo: LoggedInUserInfo,
 };
 
 type BaseCreatePendingSidebarInput = {
@@ -451,11 +451,18 @@
 function baseCreatePendingSidebar(
   input: BaseCreatePendingSidebarInput,
 ): ThreadInfo {
-  const { sourceMessageInfo, parentThreadInfo, viewerID, messageTitle } = input;
+  const {
+    sourceMessageInfo,
+    parentThreadInfo,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
+    messageTitle,
+  } = input;
   const { color, type: parentThreadType } = parentThreadInfo;
   const threadName = trimText(messageTitle, 30);
 
   const initialMembers = new Map();
+  const { id: viewerID, username } = loggedInUserInfo;
+  initialMembers.set(viewerID, ({ id: viewerID, username }: UserInfo));
   if (userIsMember(parentThreadInfo, sourceMessageInfo.creator.id)) {
     const { id: sourceAuthorID, username: sourceAuthorUsername } =
       sourceMessageInfo.creator;
@@ -507,8 +514,12 @@
 function createUnresolvedPendingSidebar(
   input: CreateUnresolvedPendingSidebarInput,
 ): ThreadInfo {
-  const { sourceMessageInfo, parentThreadInfo, viewerID, markdownRules } =
-    input;
+  const {
+    sourceMessageInfo,
+    parentThreadInfo,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
+    markdownRules,
+  } = input;
 
   const messageTitleEntityText = getMessageTitle(
     sourceMessageInfo,
@@ -523,7 +534,7 @@
     sourceMessageInfo,
     parentThreadInfo,
     messageTitle,
-    viewerID,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
   });
 }
 
@@ -538,7 +549,7 @@
   const {
     sourceMessageInfo,
     parentThreadInfo,
-    viewerID,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
     markdownRules,
     getENSNames,
   } = input;
@@ -562,7 +573,7 @@
     sourceMessageInfo,
     parentThreadInfo,
     messageTitle,
-    viewerID,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/native/chat/sidebar-input-bar-height-measurer.react.js b/native/chat/sidebar-input-bar-height-measurer.react.js
--- a/native/chat/sidebar-input-bar-height-measurer.react.js
+++ b/native/chat/sidebar-input-bar-height-measurer.react.js
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
 import { View, StyleSheet } from 'react-native';
 
+import { useLoggedInUserInfo } from 'lib/hooks/account-hooks.js';
+
 import { DummyChatInputBar } from './chat-input-bar.react.js';
 import { useMessageListScreenWidth } from './composed-message-width.js';
 import { getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo } from './sidebar-navigation.js';
-import { useSelector } from '../redux/redux-utils.js';
 import type { ChatMessageInfoItemWithHeight } from '../types/chat-types.js';
 
 type Props = {
@@ -19,12 +20,11 @@
 
   const width = useMessageListScreenWidth();
 
-  const viewerID = useSelector(
-    state => state.currentUserInfo && state.currentUserInfo.id,
+  const loggedInUserInfo = useLoggedInUserInfo();
+  const sidebarThreadInfo = React.useMemo(
+    () => getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo({ sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo }),
+    [sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo],
   );
-  const sidebarThreadInfo = React.useMemo(() => {
-    return getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo({ sourceMessage, viewerID });
-  }, [sourceMessage, viewerID]);
   if (!sidebarThreadInfo) {
     return null;
   }
diff --git a/native/chat/sidebar-navigation.js b/native/chat/sidebar-navigation.js
--- a/native/chat/sidebar-navigation.js
+++ b/native/chat/sidebar-navigation.js
@@ -4,33 +4,34 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
 
 import { ENSCacheContext } from 'lib/components/ens-cache-provider.react.js';
+import { useLoggedInUserInfo } from 'lib/hooks/account-hooks.js';
 import {
   createPendingSidebar,
   createUnresolvedPendingSidebar,
 } from 'lib/shared/thread-utils.js';
 import type { ThreadInfo } from 'lib/types/thread-types.js';
+import type { LoggedInUserInfo } from 'lib/types/user-types.js';
 import type { GetENSNames } from 'lib/utils/ens-helpers.js';
 
 import { ChatContext } from './chat-context.js';
 import { useNavigateToThread } from './message-list-types.js';
 import { getDefaultTextMessageRules } from '../markdown/rules.react.js';
-import { useSelector } from '../redux/redux-utils.js';
 import type { ChatMessageInfoItemWithHeight } from '../types/chat-types.js';
 
 type GetUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfoInput = {
   +sourceMessage: ChatMessageInfoItemWithHeight,
-  +viewerID?: ?string,
+  +loggedInUserInfo: ?LoggedInUserInfo,
 };
 function getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo(
   input: GetUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfoInput,
 ): ?ThreadInfo {
-  const { sourceMessage, viewerID } = input;
+  const { sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo } = input;
   const threadCreatedFromMessage = sourceMessage.threadCreatedFromMessage;
   if (threadCreatedFromMessage) {
     return threadCreatedFromMessage;
   }
 
-  if (!viewerID) {
+  if (!loggedInUserInfo) {
     return null;
   }
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@
   return createUnresolvedPendingSidebar({
     sourceMessageInfo: messageInfo,
     parentThreadInfo: threadInfo,
-    viewerID,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
     markdownRules: getDefaultTextMessageRules().simpleMarkdownRules,
   });
 }
@@ -50,13 +51,13 @@
 async function getSidebarThreadInfo(
   input: GetSidebarThreadInfoInput,
 ): Promise<?ThreadInfo> {
-  const { sourceMessage, viewerID, getENSNames } = input;
+  const { sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo, getENSNames } = input;
   const threadCreatedFromMessage = sourceMessage.threadCreatedFromMessage;
   if (threadCreatedFromMessage) {
     return threadCreatedFromMessage;
   }
 
-  if (!viewerID) {
+  if (!loggedInUserInfo) {
     return null;
   }
 
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@
   return await createPendingSidebar({
     sourceMessageInfo: messageInfo,
     parentThreadInfo: threadInfo,
-    viewerID,
+    loggedInUserInfo,
     markdownRules: getDefaultTextMessageRules().simpleMarkdownRules,
     getENSNames,
   });
@@ -73,21 +74,19 @@
 function useNavigateToSidebar(
   item: ChatMessageInfoItemWithHeight,
 ): () => mixed {
-  const viewerID = useSelector(
-    state => state.currentUserInfo && state.currentUserInfo.id,
-  );
+  const loggedInUserInfo = useLoggedInUserInfo();
   const navigateToThread = useNavigateToThread();
   const cacheContext = React.useContext(ENSCacheContext);
   const { getENSNames } = cacheContext;
   return React.useCallback(async () => {
     const threadInfo = await getSidebarThreadInfo({
       sourceMessage: item,
-      viewerID,
+      loggedInUserInfo,
       getENSNames,
     });
     invariant(threadInfo, 'threadInfo should be set');
     navigateToThread({ threadInfo });
-  }, [navigateToThread, item, viewerID, getENSNames]);
+  }, [navigateToThread, item, loggedInUserInfo, getENSNames]);
 }
 
 function useAnimatedNavigateToSidebar(
diff --git a/native/chat/utils.js b/native/chat/utils.js
--- a/native/chat/utils.js
+++ b/native/chat/utils.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
 import Animated from 'react-native-reanimated';
 
+import { useLoggedInUserInfo } from 'lib/hooks/account-hooks.js';
 import { useMessageListData } from 'lib/selectors/chat-selectors.js';
 import type { ChatMessageItem } from 'lib/selectors/chat-selectors.js';
 import { messageKey } from 'lib/shared/message-utils.js';
@@ -25,7 +26,6 @@
   RobotextMessageTooltipModalRouteName,
   TextMessageTooltipModalRouteName,
 } from '../navigation/route-names.js';
-import { useSelector } from '../redux/redux-utils.js';
 import type {
   ChatMessageInfoItemWithHeight,
   ChatMessageItemWithHeight,
@@ -217,12 +217,10 @@
     setSidebarAnimationType,
   } = chatContext;
 
-  const viewerID = useSelector(
-    state => state.currentUserInfo && state.currentUserInfo.id,
-  );
+  const loggedInUserInfo = useLoggedInUserInfo();
   const sidebarThreadInfo = React.useMemo(
-    () => getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo({ sourceMessage, viewerID }),
-    [sourceMessage, viewerID],
+    () => getUnresolvedSidebarThreadInfo({ sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo }),
+    [sourceMessage, loggedInUserInfo],
   );
 
   const currentInputBarHeight =
diff --git a/web/selectors/thread-selectors.js b/web/selectors/thread-selectors.js
--- a/web/selectors/thread-selectors.js
+++ b/web/selectors/thread-selectors.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import { useDispatch } from 'react-redux';
 
 import { ENSCacheContext } from 'lib/components/ens-cache-provider.react.js';
+import { useLoggedInUserInfo } from 'lib/hooks/account-hooks.js';
 import { createPendingSidebar } from 'lib/shared/thread-utils.js';
 import type {
   ComposableMessageInfo,
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@
   threadInfo: ThreadInfo,
 ): (event: SyntheticEvent<HTMLElement>) => mixed {
   const dispatch = useDispatch();
-  const viewerID = useSelector(state => state.currentUserInfo?.id);
+  const loggedInUserInfo = useLoggedInUserInfo();
 
   const cacheContext = React.useContext(ENSCacheContext);
   const { getENSNames } = cacheContext;
@@ -68,13 +69,13 @@
   return React.useCallback(
     async (event: SyntheticEvent<HTMLElement>) => {
       event.preventDefault();
-      if (!viewerID) {
+      if (!loggedInUserInfo) {
         return;
       }
       const pendingSidebarInfo = await createPendingSidebar({
         sourceMessageInfo: messageInfo,
         parentThreadInfo: threadInfo,
-        viewerID,
+        loggedInUserInfo,
         markdownRules: getDefaultTextMessageRules().simpleMarkdownRules,
         getENSNames,
       });
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@
         },
       });
     },
-    [viewerID, messageInfo, threadInfo, dispatch, getENSNames],
+    [loggedInUserInfo, messageInfo, threadInfo, dispatch, getENSNames],
   );
 }