Image credits: Bloomberg/Gabby Jones/Getty Images
To better compete with X (formerly Twitter), Instagram’s Threads is gearing up to launch an in-demand feature: Trends. A Threads user discovered this update over the weekend in a screenshot accidentally posted by a Threads employee of hers. The screenshot showed a numbered list of trending topics and the number of “threads” actively discussing each item.
The post was discovered by user Willian Max, who suspected it was intended to be shared to an internal feed used only by Meta employees. 9to5Mac and Mashable previously reported on the upcoming additions.
The image shows top trends like Drake’s new album hitting No. 1, and current topics like Billboard’s Latin Music Week and Disney+’s release of Loki Season 2. Instagram has not yet commented on this report.
However, unlike X itself, Threads’ main trending list doesn’t seem to be accompanied by other trending lists by topic such as news, sports, entertainment, or a personalized list of trends “just for you.” .
However, this addition will be another step towards increasing Threads’ competitiveness with X. The app, run by Instagram, aims to take advantage of the ongoing upheaval and change on the Elon Musk-owned microblogging network to encourage users to join Threads on their behalf. The company is not alone in this endeavor. Other companies trying to compete with X include his open source Mastodon, the Jack Dorsey-backed app Bluesky, and startups like Pebble and Spill.
Threads has seen a decline in network usage since its July 5 launch, when it gained 100 million users faster than any previous app. However, the Threads team has developed a number of features to flesh out the app, including support for chronological feeds, a web app, easy profile switching, a way to view liked posts, and importantly, support for search. We are rapidly rolling out new features. Of course, search alone won’t make Threads a competitor to X. Instead, a combination of both search and trends can make X the go-to network for breaking news and timely conversations and discussions, something Threads has yet to master. .
As The Information recently reported, there are internal concerns about how receptive Threads should be to the news, with senior executives hesitant to do so due to the potential problems it poses. Of course, this is an area Meta has had to grapple with for years, as the circulation of news on Facebook has fragmented its user base and allowed inflammatory and fake news to gain traction. It was.
But in response to a thread posted last week that claimed the company was likely afraid of the news getting out, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri responded: “We’re not anti-news. The news is already in the thread. We’re just trying not to over-promise and under-deliver for an incredibly powerful group. , this is a mistake we have made as a company many times in the past.”
This may also explain why Trends wasn’t one of the first features Threads worked on in its race to become a Twitter/X clone.
So far, Threads has taken a cautious approach to news and trends, using terms such as “new coronavirus,” “long coronavirus,” and “vaccination,” as well as other “sex” and “nudity” statements. ”, “gore” and “pornography”. ” reported the Washington Post. And in a recent interview with The Verge, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that he wants Threads’ culture to be “a more positive, friendly forum for discussion,” and that X is “a very “It is a very strong expression of being negative and critical of.” ”
But what we aim for is “Just a good atmosphere” This isn’t necessarily the way to develop Threads into a competitor to X, as news tends to elicit strong reactions and opinions.
Additionally, other highly anticipated features, such as the launch of the much-in-demand web apps, have made little difference in that regard for now, so adding Trends may encourage users to abandon X for Threads. It’s not clear that they can be persuaded.
According to Samelweb, Threads’ Android app usage fell from 49.2 million in the first month on July 7 to 10.3 million a month later. Other metrics from data.ai for August 2023 estimate that Threads has a total of 135 million monthly active users worldwide, a far cry from X’s 666 million. Masu.