- Meta’s new text-based social media app Threads launched a “following” tab and other new features on Tuesday.
- The new tab allows users to see chronological posts from people they follow instead of the algorithmically curated content that appears in the “For You” feed.
- “Ask and you shall receive,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Tuesday.
In this photo illustration, META’s Threads logo is displayed on a smartphone with the Twitter logo in the background. Threads is a new social network from Meta Platforms that launched on July 5, 2023.
Omar Marquez | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Meta’s new text-based social media app Threads launched a much-requested new feature on Tuesday: a “following” tab.
The new tab allows users to see chronological posts from people they follow instead of the less homogenized, algorithmically curated content that appears in the “For You” feed. Since Threads first launched earlier this month, many users have been asking Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Moseri, for the feature.
“Ask and you shall receive,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Tuesday.
Meta’s Threads added the following feed in chronological order
Meta said Tuesday that the Threads update will allow users to sort their “activity” feed by followers, quotes and reposts, see their Liked posts in their settings, and translate some posts that appear in another language.
Many users point out that the “For You” and “Following” tabs resemble the existing layout on Twitter, which was renamed “X” as part of the latest change to the platform since Elon Musk took it over late last year.
But the comparisons don’t end there. Threads have a similar look and feel to Twitter, as the platform replicates Twitter’s key icons and features such as character limits. Meta executives like Mosseri touted threads as a more positive “public square” for communities that “never embraced Twitter.”
Threads first launched on July 5, while Twitter users have been plagued by several disruptions and controversial rate cap policies. The platform quickly rose to 100 million users, though engagement on the app has since declined.
Meta said on Tuesday that it is working to bring new features to Threads as soon as possible.