Close Menu
TechBrunchTechBrunch
  • Home
  • AI
  • Apps
  • Crypto
  • Security
  • Startups
  • TechCrunch
  • Venture

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

What's Hot

Save 60% on PlusOne Passes before Disrupt 2025 starts on October 27th

October 22, 2025

Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founder, raises $250 million and launches beta

October 21, 2025

Codi, powered by a16z, launches AI agent office manager

October 21, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
TechBrunchTechBrunch
  • Home
  • AI

    OpenAI seeks to extend human lifespans with the help of longevity startups

    January 17, 2025

    Farewell to the $200 million woolly mammoth and TikTok

    January 17, 2025

    Nord Security founder launches Nexos.ai to help enterprises move AI projects from pilot to production

    January 17, 2025

    Data proves it remains difficult for startups to raise capital, even though VCs invested $75 billion in the fourth quarter

    January 16, 2025

    Apple suspends AI notification summaries for news after generating false alerts

    January 16, 2025
  • Apps

    Google brings Pixel 6 and new devices to Material3 Expressive, along with other features, to the Pixel 6 and new devices

    September 3, 2025

    Google's NoteBookLM now allows you to customize the tone of your AI podcasts

    September 3, 2025

    Roblox expands the use of age estimation techniques and introduces standardized assessments

    September 3, 2025

    Instagram finally launches the iPad app

    September 3, 2025

    Complete the 2025 Confusion Builder Stage Agenda with the Maximum Scaling Voice

    September 3, 2025
  • Crypto

    Save 60% on PlusOne Passes before Disrupt 2025 starts on October 27th

    October 22, 2025

    Disrupt Stage Revealed: Where the Future of Technology First Breaks | TechCrunch

    October 21, 2025

    6 days left until Disrupt 2025 opens in San Francisco and ticket prices increase | Tech Crunch

    October 21, 2025

    Last minute ticket deals for Disrupt 2025: +1 for 60% off

    October 20, 2025

    Last minute ticket deals for Disrupt 2025: +1 for 60% off

    October 20, 2025
  • Security

    Apple warns exploit developers that iPhones have been targeted by government spyware

    October 21, 2025

    Amazon identifies problem that destroyed much of the internet, says AWS is back to normal

    October 21, 2025

    Amazon DNS outage destroys large portions of the Internet

    October 20, 2025

    Spyware maker NSO Group blocked from WhatsApp

    October 18, 2025

    Amazon's Ring to partner with Flock, an AI camera network used by ICE, federal government, and law enforcement

    October 16, 2025
  • Startups

    7 days left: Founders and VCs save over $300 on all stage passes

    March 24, 2025

    AI chip startup Furiosaai reportedly rejecting $800 million acquisition offer from Meta

    March 24, 2025

    20 Hottest Open Source Startups of 2024

    March 22, 2025

    Andrill may build a weapons factory in the UK

    March 21, 2025

    Startup Weekly: Wiz bets paid off at M&A Rich Week

    March 21, 2025
  • TechCrunch

    OpenSea takes a long-term view with a focus on UX despite NFT sales remaining low

    February 8, 2024

    AI will save software companies' growth dreams

    February 8, 2024

    B2B and B2C are not about who buys, but how you sell

    February 5, 2024

    It's time for venture capital to break away from fast fashion

    February 3, 2024

    a16z's Chris Dixon believes it's time to focus on blockchain use cases rather than speculation

    February 2, 2024
  • Venture

    Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founder, raises $250 million and launches beta

    October 21, 2025

    Codi, powered by a16z, launches AI agent office manager

    October 21, 2025

    Top researchers from OpenAI and Google Brain spark $300M VC frenzy for startup Periodic Labs

    October 20, 2025

    San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is coming to disrupt 2025

    October 20, 2025

    7 days left until TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, ticket prices will increase

    October 20, 2025
TechBrunchTechBrunch

'ThreadsDeck' arrives just in time for Trump's verdict

TechBrunchBy TechBrunchMay 31, 20245 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Telegram Email


Yes, we're calling it “ThreadsDeck” now.

At least, that's the tag many are using to describe the new user interface of Instagram's X rival Threads, which resembles the column-based format of Twitter's old app TweetDeck (now X Pro). Two weeks after Threads first tested a feature that let users pin columns to their desktop web app home screens, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced Thursday that the alternative view was starting to roll out globally, just in time for everyone to discuss the hottest political news of the year: Trump's verdict.

The new user interface options position Threads as a stronger competitor to X for people looking for real-time news and information, especially since it allows users to get around Meta's ill-considered decision to distance itself from political discussion across Instagram's platforms. In February, the company announced that both Instagram and Threads would no longer “actively” recommend political content, a strange choice for a Twitter/X rival in an election year.

It's not hard to understand why the company made this decision. Meta has been embroiled in political controversies on multiple occasions, particularly in the US, where it has been accused by Republicans of censoring free speech and being too soft on misinformation and disinformation. With its entry into the real-time social networking space and positioning Threads as a public forum alternative to Elon Musk's X, Meta quickly caught the attention of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) last year.

Just a few weeks after Threads was released, Jordan sent a question to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the app's content moderation policies. Meta must have thought, Here we go again.

Instead of addressing the headaches, Threads turned its back on politics, saying the company would not actively insert political content into Threads' in-feed recommendations or promote it in different places across Instagram.

But while Threads wanted to prioritize creator content and steer clear of politics, its users didn't.

Even after the change, political content continued to regularly dominate trending threads: When President Biden delivered his State of the Union address in March, for example, terms related to the speech itself, heckling and the Republican response trended. Now, the network is abuzz with discussion about Trump's ruling, as one would expect on a real-time social platform.

Easy to follow the news in real time

Threads' previous user interface made it much harder to follow different topics, threads, and discussions, and importantly, it lacked a real-time feel. You had to click back and forth to move between your For You and Following feeds; there was no easy way to continually track areas of interest. This changes with Threads' alternative column-based layout, which users are calling “ThreadsDeck.”

Image credit: Screenshot from Threads

Now you can pin your “Featured” and “Following” feeds side-by-side, plus search feeds that highlight your Likes, Saved, Profile, Activity, or Top Trends. Most importantly, you can search for any topic you want to track (e.g. “Trump”) and add it as a separate column.

Plus, any column outside of the “For You” feed can be toggled to enable auto-refresh, just like TweetDeck. Even better, it's not a subscriber-only feature like X Pro.

This change will go a long way towards making threads look, feel, and behave more like Twitter/X, regardless of what corporate bans Meta has in place regarding political content.

The ban has confused users who don't understand how Meta decides what content to block: Should a photo of Taylor Swift holding a “Biden-Harris” cookie be disrespected? one user recently wondered in a test post of the algorithm.

Mosseri tried to clarify that the company's political work “is primarily done at the account level, not the post level,” and tried to explain again that Threads is not “anti-news” and does not just “amplify political news.”

“Sports, music, fashion and culture news are what we actively pursue. Political news is [we] “I'm going to be more careful,” he said in his response.

Every time he brings up the issue, the thread is flooded with replies from users voicing their opposition to Meta's position.

Some of those takes were more nuanced than others.

“You can't have a viable real-time social media platform without also being partly a news platform,” accuses technology journalist Lance Ulanoff. “Lean into that and figure out how to support it all in a way that avoids the mistakes that everyone who follows suit makes.”

Another simply yelled, “Give us the news!”

At the very least, users no longer have to wait for Meta to change their mind: they can now customize the app to meet their demand for real-time, automatically updated information on a variety of topics, including politics.

If Threads succeeds in replacing X as the news platform, it will be in spite of its misguided policies on political content, not because of them, and because Threads has finally given users the tools, through ThreadsDeck, to build the apps they want.



Source link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Google brings Pixel 6 and new devices to Material3 Expressive, along with other features, to the Pixel 6 and new devices

September 3, 2025

Google's NoteBookLM now allows you to customize the tone of your AI podcasts

September 3, 2025

Roblox expands the use of age estimation techniques and introduces standardized assessments

September 3, 2025

Instagram finally launches the iPad app

September 3, 2025

Complete the 2025 Confusion Builder Stage Agenda with the Maximum Scaling Voice

September 3, 2025

Netflix updates its moment feature to allow users to have more control over scene clipping

September 3, 2025

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Reviews
Editors Picks

7 days left: Founders and VCs save over $300 on all stage passes

March 24, 2025

AI chip startup Furiosaai reportedly rejecting $800 million acquisition offer from Meta

March 24, 2025

20 Hottest Open Source Startups of 2024

March 22, 2025

Andrill may build a weapons factory in the UK

March 21, 2025
About Us
About Us

Welcome to Tech Brunch, your go-to destination for cutting-edge insights, news, and analysis in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cryptocurrency, Technology, and Startups. At Tech Brunch, we are passionate about exploring the latest trends, innovations, and developments shaping the future of these dynamic industries.

Our Picks

Save 60% on PlusOne Passes before Disrupt 2025 starts on October 27th

October 22, 2025

Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founder, raises $250 million and launches beta

October 21, 2025

Codi, powered by a16z, launches AI agent office manager

October 21, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

© 2025 TechBrunch. Designed by TechBrunch.
  • Home
  • About Tech Brunch
  • Advertise with Tech Brunch
  • Contact us
  • DMCA Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.