Threads, Meta’s ambitious venture into decentralized social media and a rival to Twitter (now X), is now enhancing user experience by offering more personalized feed controls. Following the recent launch of a customizable dashboard, Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri announced on Monday that users can now easily influence their Threads feed content by using swipe gestures.
In a post on Threads, Mosseri explained the new feature: “Swipe right on a post to like it, or swipe left to indicate disinterest. These interactions will guide us in displaying more of the content you prefer and less of what you don’t.”
The swipe mechanism, akin to those used in dating apps like Tinder, provides a user-friendly way to interact with the algorithm and tailor content to individual preferences. This feature aims to rapidly refine the personalization of the For You feeds. This concept is not new; platforms like TikTok and X employ similar functions to help manage and curate users’ feed content.
Each of Threads’ competitors employs unique methods for content delivery. X relies on a conventional social media algorithm that considers likes, engagement patterns, and other metrics to determine user-preferred content. In contrast, Bluesky, a startup originally incubated by Twitter, implements a “choose your own algorithm” model, allowing users to customize their feeds or select from predefined options like “What’s Hot” or “Popular with Friends.”
Optimized For You feeds are crucial for boosting user engagement and time spent on the app — key objectives for Meta with Threads.
Despite Threads boasting over 150 million monthly active users, it still lags behind X, which Elon Musk claims has 600 million monthly users, half of whom are daily active. Musk, however, has not detailed how many of X’s users are automated accounts or spam. As X is no longer publicly traded, these figures are unverifiable. Threads, however, is surpassing Bluesky’s 5.7 million users and Mastodon’s 7.2 million, of whom fewer than 1 million are active monthly.
Threads started experimenting with the swipe gesture feature in March, introducing a heart icon for swipes to the right and a crossed-out eye icon to the left, signaling to hide content.
Although currently intended to help users customize their personal feeds, the data gathered from these swipe gestures could have broader applications for Meta. Over time, these interactions could inform the company about post popularity, helping refine the For You algorithm more efficiently. This data-driven approach is poised to enhance the overall user experience on Threads.
