Meta's social networking threads are X-competitors with over 320 million active users per month, rolling out new features related to topics, replies controls, and app video playback. The company also says it is personalizing political content proposals to users.
When combined, this feature is intended to relate the app to the user and make users engage in content on the network when X is no longer the sole competitor of the thread. Today, Meta is facing the rise of alternative networks like BlueSky. Bluesky has a platform with over 33 million users and an exciting rival on Instagram.
To help threaded users better help Connect, users can now add 10 topics of interest to their profiles on social networks. Tap these topics to view related posts, making it easier to interact with others on social networks that share the same interests.
The company began testing features earlier this month to add interest to the profile, TechCrunch reported. This feature is still described as a “test” and is currently undergoing a wider launch today.
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When you create a new post, if relevant, you will be prompted to add a suggested trend topic or to topics related to other posts you previously shared. The suggestions for these topic tags are intended to help viewers post their subjects as well, Meta explains.
The thread also introduces a redesigned topic tag. This looks like a pill and can be found next to the For For Feed post. Users can quickly tap on a tag to view all posts tagged for that particular topic.
Meta claims that posts containing tagged topics “generally receive more views,” but does not share any specific data to back up that statement.
Image credit: Thread
Another new feature lets you manage how people interact with your posts and the posts they see. Now you can only allow followers to reply or quote to a particular post.
This addition is based on a quote control thread launched in November 2024, allowing anyone to restrict quotation mark posts to only profiles you follow or mention.
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Also in November, the thread began experimenting with allowing users to select a default feed that is not an algorithmic feed after deploying a custom feed to compete with the social network BlueSky.
The thread now allows users to shuffle the order of their custom feeds. This means that you can also make the default that you want to display when your app is first opened to a custom feed. This is the feature that users are looking for.
Another update will improve video playback for threads. In addition to other changes, Meta launches a redesigned video player with easy-to-access pause/playback and skip controls and pinned progress bars, scrubing videos easily.
Image credit: Thread
In particular, Meta also said it has started phasingly into threads with citizen and political content in a more personalized way.
The company decided in 2024 to stop actively recommending political content to users on Instagram and threads ahead of the important US presidential election. After the election was wrapped, after President Trump came to power, Meta announced he would reclaim political content on Facebook, Instagram and threads.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg chose to dismantle the company's fact-checking program after the election and rely solely on future community moderation efforts.
As part of these efforts, the company said it will begin re-adding political content to its user feeds based on what Meta decides they want to see. In other words, we aim to recreate an echo chamber that enhances the user's worldview without exposing it to the other side.
Meta says they will continue to listen to user feedback to develop more threads.
Additional reports by Saraperez.