Threads Tests AI-Powered Today’s Topics Feature in the US to Show Top Trends: How it Works

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Threads’ Today’s topics feature will be expanded to more countries soon.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 13 February 2024 16:10 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters

Today’s topics feature in Threads appears to be similar to X’s Trending feature

Highlights

Today’s topics can be seen on search, For You pages on Threads
Threads trends are picked based on topics users are engaging with
Recently, Threads also started testing post bookmarks

Threads is finally testing a feature that has been highly requested by users ever since the app launched last year. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the platform is testing a new Today's topics section, which will show the topics which have the highest engagement. The feature is based on an artificial intelligence (AI) system, and will work in real-time. It is currently only available in the US, to select users. Today's topics appear to be similar to the Trending page on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Zuckerberg stated in a Threads post that once the feature was tuned up, it will be rolled out in more countries and more languages. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri also shared a post where he detailed how Today's topics will work. He said, “Today's topics on Threads will be on the search page and in the For You feed. The topics are determined by our AI systems based on what people are engaging with right now on Threads.” Mosseri also shared screenshots of how it will appear on the app.

Post by @mosseri
View on Threads

The search page addition is visually somewhat similar to X's Trending page. However, there are certain differences. On Threads, the trending topics do not require a hashtag or a tag to be included. The topics are seen as plain text, with a heading and what appears to be a top post discussing the topic. As per Mosseri, the heading and the subjects themselves are being picked by AI. As a result, users will not have to see confusing hashtags which sometimes do not reveal the actual topic.

Another place where it appears is on the For You page. Here, it shows in a separate section between posts in a carousel format. It appears similar to the Threads posts section that is displayed on the Instagram app. The heading and the top post appear in small rectangular boxes, in the screenshots shared by Mosseri.

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Threads recently began testing another feature that allowed users to bookmark posts. The feature works similarly to the feature in Instagram and X. Just tapping on the Save button will add it to the Saved section that can be accessed by tapping the icon with two horizontal lines (Settings) in the profile.

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Further reading: Threads, Threads feature, Artificial intelligence, AI

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More