As X competitor Bluesky hits 20 million users and takes off, Meta's own Twitter-like app, Instagram Threads, begins rolling out a new feature called Custom Feeds to its global audience. Ta. Custom Feeds is intended to allow Threads users to easily create feeds around specific topics or topics that include specific user profiles, in hopes of capitalizing on user demand for more personalization. I'm here.
This gives Threads users easy access to the communities and conversations that matter most to them, and leverages Bluesky's unique set of personalization tools, including tools that allow users to build their own algorithms, feeds, and lists. may be helpful. Some tools allow you to set up your own moderation tools.
The global launch of custom feeds on Threads comes just days after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the feature was entering testing. This shows that Threads is moving quickly to reverse Bluesky's recent momentum. Since the US election, Bluesky's adoption has surged as users looked for an alternative to the more right-leaning X, owned by Elon Musk. Other decisions by Company X also prompted people to leave, including changes to its blocking feature and policies around training AI models based on user data.
As a result, Bluesky's user base has grown significantly from around 7 million just a few months ago to more than 20 million today.
But Threads, with over 275 million monthly users, stands out among its competitors thanks to its ability to leverage Instagram's social graph and Meta's integrations with other apps to fuel its network. Holding the lead. However, some Threads users are disappointed with the decision to de-prioritize politics and want options beyond the default algorithmic “For You” and chronological “Following” feeds.
That's where custom feeds come in.
To use this feature, you must first search for a topic and tap it to see the latest posts. From there, tap the three dots icon next to your search term and select the “Create new feed” option. You can also add a specific user profile to your feed by visiting the user's profile, tapping the three dots icon above their profile picture, and tapping to add it to one of your feeds.
After you create a feed, you can pin it to the top of the threads home screen on the web in a column-based view (similar to Twitter's Tweetdeck or X Pro) for easy access.