Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out its trending now feature to all users in the US. The official launch comes a month after the app began testing the feature with a select number of users in the country. Trending topics are available on the search page and in the app’s For You Feed.
In a Publication topicsInstagram head Adam Mosseri announced the official launch and noted that the company sees it as “an easy way to see what others are talking about in Threads.”
The launch of trending topics will bring Threads more in line with X by allowing users to find timely conversations happening on the social network. Until now, Threads has lacked a real-time community feel, and the introduction of trending topics could help fix that, as it lets you get an idea of what people are talking about right now in addition to what you see on your own streams.
Meta previously told TechCrunch that trending topics are determined by Meta’s AI systems and based on what people engage with in Threads. The system will take into account a number of different factors, such as how many people are talking about a given topic and how many users have engaged with posts on the same topic.
The feature is somewhat limited, as Threads only shows five trending topics at a time, while X shows you many. It is possible that Threads limits the number of threads posted to prevent security and spam issues.
Although Meta said Threads would not actively recommend political content, many of the topics that often trend on the platform are political in nature. During President Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month, Threads’ trending topics were dominated by political chatter. Meta has distanced itself from politics on its platforms for years, but the company doesn’t suppress politics in Threads’ trending feature. However, this may change in the future.
