Instagram’s Threads is gearing up to introduce a highly anticipated feature “ Trends”. A Threads user stumbled upon this update through a screenshot accidentally shared by a Threads employee over the weekend.
User Willian Max spotted the post and suspects that it was intended for an internal feed exclusive to Meta employees. This forthcoming addition was previously reported by 9to5Mac and Mashable.
The screenshot showcased top trends, such as Drake’s new album ranking first, along with other current subjects like Billboard’s Latin Music Week and Disney+‘s release of Loki Season 2. Instagram has not officially commented on these reports.
Nevertheless, Threads’ primary Trends list appears to differ from X, as it doesn’t seem to include other trending lists by specific categories such as News, Sports, and Entertainment, or a personalized “For You” trends list.
Nonetheless, this addition represents another stride towards making Threads a more formidable competitor to X. Instagram, via Threads, aims to leverage the ongoing shifts and developments on the Elon Musk-owned microblogging network to entice users to opt for Threads instead.
In this endeavor, it faces competition from other entities, including open-source Mastodon, the Jack Dorsey-backed app Bluesky, and startups such as Pebble and Spill.
Since its launch on July 5, Threads achieved 100 million users faster than any other app before it, but its usage has been steadily declining.
Nevertheless, the Threads team has been actively introducing new features to enhance the app. These include support for a chronological feed, a web app, easy profile switching, the ability to view liked posts, and crucially, search functionality. However, search alone may not be enough to rival X.
The combination of search and trends is what makes X a go-to platform for breaking news and timely discussions, a feat that Threads has yet to master.
Recent reports suggest that there are internal concerns within Threads regarding the extent to which it should embrace news content. Senior leadership has shown some reluctance due to potential complications.
Meta has encountered similar challenges over the years, with the circulation of news on Facebook causing divisions among users and allowing inflammatory and fake news to spread.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri clarified: “We’re not anti-news; news is already on threads. We’re simply trying to avoid over-promising and under-delivering to an incredibly powerful group, which is a mistake we’ve made as a company many times in the past.”
This stance may also explain why Trends wasn’t one of the first features Threads prioritized in its quest to become a Twitter/X alternative.
