Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the app is rolling out its trending section to the US.
The announcement comes five weeks after the CEO said the app was trying out a display of the top topics on Threads. Zuckerberg said the team was focused on refining the feature before rolling it out to more countries and languages.
The new update is now available, and it shows five trending topics under the search bar.
Meta shared in an announcement that the company’s AI systems identify trending topics based on how many posts mention the subject as well as engagement levels on those posts. Once selected, the topics go under review to make sure they’re not misleading or repetitive.
Threads vs. X
Launched by Meta in July 2023, Threads was built off the back of Instagram and offers a conversational platform for users to interact.
Within the first week that it launched, 100 million people signed up, and about 30 more million monthly active users joined the app since then, Zuckerberg said in Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Similarly to X, formerly Twitter, users on Threads can share text-based posts of up to 500 characters, videos of up to five minutes, and links and photos. Users can follow creators and other users, and discuss topics of shared interest.
Trending topics is another addition that makes Threads and X similar, although other sites like LinkedIn and TikTok have their own version of the feature.
Trending on Threads is also less exhaustive than X. It’s only available under the search bar and shows five topics. Meanwhile, X has up to 30 trending topics listed and has a section dedicated to it under the explore tab. It also shows up on the sidebar of a desktop. Threads’ version is more discrete.
While the move brings the feature set of the rival apps closer together, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri previously said in a Threads post that the company’s goal “isn’t to replace Twitter,” which has become a discussion forum for many users interested in hard news and politics.
Rather, Mosseri said it’s creating a space for communities on Instagram that never flocked to X, like sports, music, fashion, beauty, and entertainment.
Ironically, if you took a look at the trending topics on Threads on Tuesday, you’d see two out of the five topics, “Trump sues ABC, George Stephanopoulos” and “Alina Habba,” Trump’s lawyer, are related to politics.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
