In July last year, Facebook-parent Meta introduced Instagram Threads as a direct competitor to X, formerly Twitter. Initially, the platform lacked several fundamental features, prompting Meta engineers to work tirelessly to incorporate them into the social networking service. Building on this momentum, Meta has now unveiled the addition of a "Trending Now" section within Instagram Threads, thus, enabling users to discover popular and trending topics being actively discussed on the platform.
On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the app is launching its trending section in the United States.
This feature is similar to what we see on Elon Musk-owned micro-blogging platform X.
The announcement follows five weeks after the CEO's statement that the app was experimenting with showcasing the top topics on Threads. Zuckerberg emphasised that the team is dedicated to fine-tuning the feature before expanding its availability to additional countries and languages.
The latest Threads update is currently accessible, showcasing five trending topics below the search bar. Meta disclosed in a statement that the company's AI systems detect trending topics by analysing the number of posts referencing the subject and the level of engagement on those posts. Following selection, the topics undergo a review process to ensure they are neither misleading nor redundant.
If you're familiar with the Trending section on X, Threads' version is somewhat reminiscent. Accessing the search menu by tapping the Search icon on the bottom navigation bar reveals a Trending Now section beneath it. Previously, the Follow suggestions were located below the search bar. However, unlike X, Threads does not categorise trending topics into distinct sections such as sports, news, entertainment, etc.
To recall, earlier in february, Zuckerberg had announced in a Threads post that the platform is launching a new trial in the US. This test will feature a list of trending topics discussed by other users, similar to X, formerly Twitter, visible on the search page and within the For You feed. Users will have the opportunity to explore posts related to specific topics through this feature. Alongside experimenting with a post-saving feature, the social networking giant had announced its intention to introduce controls to restrict the recommendations of political content on Instagram Threads.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, had indicated that Threads utilises machine learning (ML) AI systems to decide the content on its list. These systems factor in both the number of individuals discussing a specific topic and the level of engagement with posts related to it.