Threads Will Now Display Alternate Feeds at the Top of the Main Feed

The latest feature update from Threads draws its inspiration from Bluesky. The update ensures that users will now be able to readily view their various feeds on the home screen, making it easier to swiflty switch between recommended streams like "Following" or "For You" or any of their customized lists. IG/Threads head, Adam Mosseri unveiled that users will no longer need to tap the Threads icon to unveil alternative feed options. They'll be prominently displayed on screen and easy to swipe across. This new implementation does come with the removal of the option to employ swipes to indicate "Like" or "See less" on posts. Threads noted, "Some of you have asked about swiping on posts. Now, tap the heart to like a post if you want to see more like it. If you want to see less of something, tap the three-dot menu, then "Not interested." This shift marks the return of Threads to more traditional social media functions, veering away from the less popular swipe feature, commonly misunderstood and not widely adopted due to its lack of intuitive UI. After multiple user requests for a default Following feed, an enhanced following growth process, and improved search, Threads has now launched all these upgrades within a few weeks. Much of this was spurred by Bluesky, and the unexpected surge of attention toward the Twitter-like, decentralized social app. Many users found Threads' algorithm-defined feeds insufficient for real-time news updates during the U.S. election, mainly due to the platform's focus on engagement over timeliness and active suppression of political content. Such gaps led many to experiment with Bluesky. Bluesky has been noted as a better platform to build audience and reach for news content by many users, predominantly journalists. The reasons being the facility to default to the "Following" feed, an emphasis on following users over algorithmic recommendations, no suppression of links or political content - making it a worthwhile choice for writers and publishers, striving to boost referral traffic and engagement. Meta’s entertainment-focused, non-political, algorithmic approach, successful on Facebook and IG, may not fare well on Threads. Considering the rival culture with Twitter, where a large portion of users are passive content consumers and only a small fraction actively post, it emerges that Twitter's forte lies in delivering fresh, niche-specific updates. While Twitter may have a smaller audience compared to Facebook or Instagram, its influence is considerable. The aim of creating a Twitter-like platform requires attracting an active user segment to keep the content flowing. Currently, for some of these crucial users, Bluesky appears more appealing. Active posters seek a platform where audience building is possible without the dread of reach sanctions. Bluesky caters to this demand, and despite being smaller in size than Threads, it is a valuable wake-up call for the Threads team to comprehend the unique worth of real-time social apps, distinct from its other platforms. With Bluesky stirring some change, it remains to be seen whether Threads can reclaim its status as the trending app.