Posted by Threads is rolling out a new test in the US that shows a list of popular topics that other users are discussing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a post on Threads. The list will appear on the search page and in the For You feed, allowing you to browse through posts about a particular topic.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri says Threads uses machine learning AI systems to determine what goes on the list. It takes into account how many people are talking about a certain topic, as well as how many people have interacted with posts about it.
Mosseri says the company also has a team of content specialists to make sure topics don’t violate Threads’ community guidelines and aren’t “duplicative or confusing.” He adds that political trends “will be eligible” to appear on the today’s topics list. Users can report topics that may violate the platform’s guidelines, too.
App developer Alessandro Paluzzi first spotted Meta working on this feature in January, and it comes as a welcome change. It should make it easier to find new posts and users on Threads, which has been a huge pain point for the platform since its launch. Threads is rolling out today’s topics in the US for now, but Zuckerberg says Meta will launch the feature in “more countries and languages” once it gets “tuned up.”
Update February 12th, 3:24PM ET: Added information from Adam Mosseri.