Threads Looks to Add Trending Topics, GIFs, and Voice to Your Content

What are Threads trying to do to evolve?

Meta is looking to rapidly evolve its Twitter-like Threads app to scoop up as many cast-offs from X as possible. It is close to adding a range of much-requested features that could help to bring it into parity with the Elon Musk-owned app or even better it in some instances.

What are the ‘Trending Topics’ elements?

First off, Threads will soon add a new “Trending Topics” element. It will make it easier for users to stay up with the latest discussions in the app.

It was posted by app developer Willian Max, who could grab a screenshot via a Meta developer’s account. The new trending list would display all the top conversations happening in Threads at any time.

Users could then tap through on any topic to see what people are saying, as they can on X.

Is it a big step in bringing Threads close to the ‘X’ experience?

It could be a big step in bringing Threads closer to the X experience. Because right now, X remains the best place to be for real-time news discussion.

But by bringing more focus to the key topics of the moment, Threads will become a bigger source of the same, even if Threads does not want to lean into news and politics as such.

Though IG chief Adam Mosseri also recently clarified his stance on this.

What has Meta repeatedly added for news publishers?

As it is true, Meta has repeatedly added incentives for news publishers, only to rescind them a year or so later, leaving newsrooms in the lurch.

With Threads, Mosseri says that they are trying to be more deliberate about such, rather than re-directing newsrooms to focus on, say, video, only to change it up again in the future.

What’s more, Threads is looking to add?

Threads is also looking to add more post-creation elements. It includes voice posts, GIFs, and polls in-stream.

As shared by Chris Messina, Threads users will soon have more options built into the Thread composer. It will provide additional ways to engage and interact.

What Threads has been testing? 

Threads are also tested and edited, potentially within a time limit after posting. At the same time, it is also working on new ways to promote a user’s Threads activity, both on their Instagram profile and in the app.

It is still too early to say whether Threads will stick and become a more significant player in the social media space. But recent changes at X that include its revamp of link previews have certainly prompted more people to look at the Threads this way.

With journalists and media organizations now especially considering their options, it is based on the potential to promote their content.

What has been confirmed by the staff of the ‘X’ app?

It has been confirmed by X staff that 80% of X users never post. They just read updates in the app. It means that of X’s 253 million daily active users, only 50 million of them ever post anything at all, a comparatively small fraction of the platform’s user base.

It is probably not unusual, with most apps relying on a small group of highly active users to drive their activity levels.

What has the X app confirmed recently?

X has recently confirmed that out of the 500 million posts it sees daily, just 100 million are original updates, with the rest being replies to those updates or re-posts and quotes.

It means that the X app and its followers are active. On average, all the posting users only share two original updates per day.

Some people, of course, post way more than that. It means a lot of those 50 million posters are only posting a single update if that is every 24 hours.

It is hardly a guess that a significant amount of this activity comes from media organizations, journalists, and publishers sharing links to their latest posts, sparking further discussion within the app.

If these media folk, most of whom are none too pleased with X’s link preview update, were to stop posting to X and shift their focus to other apps instead, then it would be a major blow to the X app.

Do you think media professionals will still associate with the X app after getting so much trolling from Elon Musk?

Elon attacks the “mainstream” media almost daily in the app. He accuses the journalists and publications of lying, misleading, acting on behalf of the government, and worse.

Suppose there was anything that could push more activity away from X. In that case, this is likely due to Elon potentially underrating the significance of major publications to his platform and their value to the X ecosystem.

The media is still intertwined with X, but you can see it unraveling, and as Elon actively tries to push many publications away, it does seem like this is keeping the door ajar for Threads.

Now, the Threads team needs to get up to speed with its feature set to pull it wide open and welcome more discussion.

Do you want to know more?

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