Threads Introduces AI-Powered Summaries and Advanced Search Features to Compete with X and Bluesky

Threads Tests Trending Topics, AI Summaries, New Search Tools

Users will now be able to search for posts within specific date ranges or search for posts from a single account. In the US, where Trending Topics is currently available, users will be able to view AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing, as well as an expanded list of Trending Topics that are popular right now. At present, Threads only shows five trending topics at a time, which will now expand to 15. However, Meta's use of curated Trending Topics has had mixed receptions in the past, at least from some quarters. In 2016, Meta invited a group of prominent conservatives to its HQ to discuss allegations that it had been deprioritizing conservative viewpoints in Trending Topics selection on users' home pages. AI-generated summaries on other social media platforms have also had a mixed reception. Since May 2024, X's premium chatbot Grok has displayed AI-generated summaries of trending issues. However, it has also come under fire for at times generating inaccurate stories based on misinterpreting human users' posts, such as falsely claiming that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost a recent election. The Meta-owned platform recently picked 15 million new users, according to Threads and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, as X has been experiencing its biggest exodus in users since Elon Musk took over the platform post-election. Threads has continued to add new features as its user base has been expanding. Earlier this month, users gained the ability to build their custom feeds for the first time. Users need to search for a new topic, select "Create new feed" and then the topic appears next to the "For you" and "Following" tabs the next time they log in. Threads soon could be looking a lot different, in plenty of other ways. Meta plans to introduce ads on Threads early next year, a move that could come as early as January 2025, if reports from The Information are correct.

Threads is testing out advanced search features and AI summaries for trending topics

Adam Mosseri described the changes as "long-overdue improvements." Threads is making more changes to address long-running complaints from users. This time, the company is testing out improvements to its search and trending topics feature in updates that Adam Mosseri described as "long-overdue improvements." On search, Threads is testing the ability to search for posts within specific date ranges and account-specific searches. The changes are similar to some of X's advanced search capabilities and could make it easier for users to look for a specific post they want to revisit. The lack of advanced search on Threads has long been frustrating and up to now, the most reliable way to search for a specific Threads post was to use Google. Threads is also experimenting with AI-powered summaries for its "trending now" topics, which shows US users a handful of popular topics on the platform. The app will also show an "expanded set" of up to 15 trends (currently, Threads only displays five trends at a time). The changes sound a little more like how X handles trends, which are sometimes summarized by its "Grok" AI feature. (Grok has somewhat of a mixed track record when it comes to accuracy, however.) It's unclear how Meta plans to handle these summaries, though the company already uses Meta AI to summarize Facebook comments and discussions in groups. The new tests are the latest in a flurry of updates from Threads. In the last week, Meta has also announced a test of custom feeds, which it made official just five days later, and improvements to users' algorithmic feeds. Those changes also just happen to coincide with a huge surge in growth for Threads competitor Bluesky. The decentralized service has grown to more than 20 million users and has had several days where its growth has rivaled Threads daily sign-up numbers.

Taking a cue from X, Threads tests AI-powered summaries of trending topics | TechCrunch

As the Twitter-like social network Bluesky sees a significant surge in users this month, Meta's own X competitor Threads has been rapidly building out its platform. On Friday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that Threads will start testing AI-powered summaries of what people are discussing on the platform in the app's "Trending now" section in the U.S. The new addition sounds similar to X's Stories feature, which uses Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok to summarize trending topics in the social network's Explore section. Threads is also going to test an expanded set of trending topics, the company noted. Plus, users will now be able to search within a specific date range and search for posts from an individual account. In a post on Threads, Mosseri said the new additions are "long-overdue improvements to Search and Trending Now on Threads." Meta has been moving quickly to update Threads at a time when many X users are moving to Bluesky, which has now surpassed 20 million users. The platform has seen an increase in users following the U.S. presidential election as X gained more of a right-wing approach, especially after Musk used the social network to campaign for President-elect Donald Trump. After complaints from users regarding Threads' algorithm, the platform is now embracing feedback, as it rolled out changes this week to surface more content from people you follow in the app's algorithmic feed. Earlier this week, the social network rolled out custom feeds to allow Threads users to curate feeds around specific topics or certain user profiles. The tool allows Threads to compete with Bluesky's own features that let users build their own algorithms, feeds, and lists. It's worth noting that Threads' user base is still much larger than Bluesky's as it has more than 275 million monthly active users. However, data from market intelligence firm Simiarweb shows that Bluesky is catching up with Threads when it comes to daily active users. The firm believes that if the social network is able to keep up its current growth rate, it could eventually catch up with Threads.