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Threads has added its own version of Twitter lists, along with a new “Media” tab on profiles, as it continues to refine and improve its Twitter-like experience.
Which is the pretty direct inspiration for these updates.
First off, Threads is gradually rolling out a new “Media” tab on user profiles, the same as is available on X, so you can more easily access all the image and video posts shared by a user.
As you can see in this example, the Threads Media tab enables you to essentially filter any profile’s posts by image and video updates only.
Which is handy when you’re looking for particular updates, or when you want to get a quick idea of what a profile posts about. And again, X already has this, so it’s really bringing Threads’ functionality into line with the competition.
Which is the same for Threads’ new feed option.
As you can see in this example, posted Ahmed Ghanem, Threads users are now being prompted to create their own custom feeds “with multiple keywords or profiles tailored to your interests.”
So, like X feeds, you can build a separate listing of posts from selected users, which you can then add as a separate stream, accessible from the main app UI.
That’ll make it easier to stay on top of certain topical discussions and interests, with custom lists made up of either profiles or keyword searches, which you can sort by “Recent” to see the latest.
You just can’t set “Recent” as the default, so you’ll have to toggle this every time. Which is slightly annoying, but the fact is that Meta drives a lot more user engagement from algorithmic feeds. So while it will provide the option to switch, if you choose, it’s not really in Meta’s interests to guide users away from its system-defined rankings.
The updates are in line with Instagram chief Adam Mosseri’s pledge to bring more Twitter-like features to the app, even though he doesn’t believe that they’ll meaningfully enhance engagement.
Back in February, Mosseri noted that lists in particular, while highly requested by users, probably aren’t as big of a deal as people think.
“My honest take is that requested features like lists, an edit button, a following feed, trending, and hashtags are all good to build, but none noticeably grow Threads or Threads usage. We’ll continue to build them because it’s good to build features that your most engaged users are excited about, but it’s hard to prioritize them when the measurable impact is negligible.”
I’m not sure I totally agree, but Mosseri’s point is that these features don’t necessarily bring more users to the app, which is the key focus for the Threads team. Because more users leads to more engagement, which is the guiding incentive for boosting Threads.
Though I do think that lists and feed options do provide more reason and opportunity for engagement, while hashtags are good for linking into real time discussion. They’re not as valuable as they once were, as social media algorithms are now better at understanding the broader context of each post. But even so, when you’re working with a real time app, I do think that these elements could be more valuable than Mosseri seems to suggest.
I guess we’ll find out, as Threads continues to add Twitter-like features to better align the app with common usage trends.
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