Meta is promising “long-overdue improvements” to its X competitor, Threads, including more precise search features and expanded trending topics. The Verge reported.
First, users will be able to search for posts within a specific date range or from a single account — similar to what X’s search allows. Threads is also testing a new trending page in the US that includes additional topics to follow as well as AI-generated summaries of what other users are talking about.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who led the launch of Threads, wrote in a post that the tests begin today.
“Today we’re beginning to test a couple of long-overdue improvements to Search and Trending Now on Threads. In the new Search experience, you’ll be able to search within a specific date range or search for posts from a single account. In the US, where Trending now is available, we’re testing an expanded set of trending topics, along with AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing. If you try out the new features, please share your feedback below.”
A long-running complaint about Threads is that the default home fed is filled with irrelevant, and at times annoying content from account users don’t follow. (Bluesky’s default feed is the opposite. Just yesterday, Mosseri said Meta was tweaking the Threads algorithm to prioritize posts from people you do follow, a significant change to how the platform ranks content.
Engadget reported Threads is making more changes to address long-running complaints from users. This time, the company is testing out improvements to its search and trending topics feature in updates that Adam Mosseri described as “long-overdue improvements.”
On search, Threads is testing the ability to search for posts within specific date ranges and account-specific searches. The change are similar to some of X’s advanced search capabilities and could make it easier for users to look for a specific post they want to revisit. The lack of advanced search on Threads has long been frustrating and up to now, the most reliable way to search for a specific Threads post was to use Google.
Threads is also experimenting with AI-powered summaries for its “trending now” topics, which shows US users a handful of popular topics on the platform. The app will also show an “expanded set” of up to 15 trends (currently, Threads only displays five trends at a time).
TechCrunch reported: As the Twitter-like social network Bluesky sees a significant surge in users this month, Meta’s own X competitor Threads has been rapidly building out its platform.
The new addition sounds similar to X’s Stories feature, which uses Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok to summarize trending topics in the social network’s explore section.
Threads is also going to test an expanded set of trending topics, the company noted. Plus users will now be able to search within a specific date range and search for posts from an individual account.
In my opinion, I think Threads is intending to convince more people to use its services. Ideally, having more people use Threads could be good for the social media service.