Meta’s text-based social network Threads is rolling out one of the most requested features after its launch — a Following feed. The company has also announced the ability to see posts you’ve liked in your settings, which will be available soon.
You’re able to either hide or show the For You and Following feeds by tapping on the Threads icon at the top of the app’s screen.
In addition, the update includes new categories to sort your Activity feed, allowing you to filter by Follows, Quotes and Reposts, and a new Follow button on your followers list to easily follow other accounts back, Instagram tells TechCrunch. Plus, users with private accounts can now approve follow requests in one go with a new “approve all” option. Soon, users will also gain the ability to see posts they’ve liked in their settings, we’re told.
In a post on his Instagram Channel, Mark Zuckerberg said that the company is adding translation features as well.
“Threads started rolling out an option for a chronological feed of only people you’re following and added translations too. More to come!” he wrote.
Users will need to be on the latest version of the Threads app to get these new features. However, because this is a gradual roll-out, you might not see the new feed or the other options immediately.
The company said that translations are automatic based on the language they are written in and the user’s language settings.
On Threads, Zuckerberg quoted a user’s post about a Following feed and said “Ask and you shall receive.”
The placement of the “For You” and “Following” feeds appear on the top of the app — just like Twitter, we should note. That will make it easier for those leaving Twitter to get used to Threads’ app.
Update your Threads app. The following tab is here.
Might be time to eXit soon. pic.twitter.com/T2QRzZQdVU
— Corner Taken Quickly ORIGI (@CrnrTknQckOrigi) July 25, 2023
In response to a user complaint that the new Following tab would only load a handful of posts, Threads iOS developer Cameron Roth noted the company is looking into the bug, adding “Seems we have created a lot of sudden demand for some reason…”
Threads has been moving fast to update its app, in the wake of Twitter’s stumbles. It recently released its first major update since its launch, bringing support for iOS 17, now available as a public beta, among other smaller changes. It then rolled out another update that was meant to bring translation support and more. But that update had been temporarily paused to sort out some issues.
Still ahead for Threads are larger improvements like an edit button, multi-account support and integration with ActivityPub, the protocol powering the popular, decentralized Twitter alternative Mastodon. As Instagram head Adam Mosseri dubbed it, Threads is still “a work in progress.”
Shortly after its launch, Instagram Threads became an overnight success, topping 100 million users within days of its arrival, though usage numbers have since declined.
A Wall Street Journal article on Friday warned that Instagram’s new Twitter competitor had begun losing steam. Citing third-party data from Sensor Tower, the paper reported the number of daily active users on Threads dropped for the second week down to 13 million, a 70% decline from a July 7 high point. By comparison, Twitter’s daily active users are around 200 million.
But it’s too early to count Threads out just yet. According to data.ai, the app has already achieved one-fifth of the weekly active user base of Twitter.
The addition of the in-demand Following feed feature may help to once again boost Threads’ usage numbers which had dropped following the app’s blowout debut.
The launch of the new chronological feed comes as Elon Musk removed the bird logo from Twitter and replaced it with an ‘X’ on Monday. Musk said that the company plans to “bid adieu to the Twitter brand” in the near future. However, the transition is not going smoothly, as most of the official handles and many parts of the website continue to feature the “Twitter” branding.
Meta once again is cleverly taking advantage of the chaos at Twitter, er X, to lure users to its Twitter clone. As X seems to be in flux, proclaiming a future that involves payments, banking and video, among other things, those who want a more classic Twitter experience may find themselves trying Threads instead.
Threads in decline? Don’t count out Instagram’s new Twitter rival yet
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