After testing it over the last month, Threads has now announced that it’s rolling out Trending Topics to all users in the U.S.
As you can see in these examples, Threads’ Trending Topics display will be shown in two places, with a ranked listing of the most discussed topics in the Search section, and a “Trending Now” module highlighted within the main “For You” feed.
And while it’s pretty much the same as the process Meta’s been testing, it has made some slight tweaks to the design, which are worthy of note.
Most interestingly, Meta’s changed the title of the section. In the search tab, in the initial test, Meta had called this listing “Today’s Topics”, which seemed to reflect its hesitance about providing a pure “Trending” list, based on user activity. “Today’s Topics” doesn’t necessarily suggest that they’re the most discussed topics in the app, but maybe a listing of popular discussions that Meta wants to highlight.
But now it’s been renamed “Trending Now”, which points to it being a more direct reflection of what users are engaging with, while the topic highlight module has also been changed from “Today’s Topics” to “Trending Now” as well.
Does that mean that it’s actually a better representation of what users are engaging with in the app?
Meta has a mixed history with trending topics. The company culled its similar “Trending” section on Facebook back in 2018 after various accusations that its moderation team had manually amplified and/or supressed stories within the display. Meta eventually got rid of its Trending news team as a result, and switched the control of the module over to algorithms. But that then led to some less than idea topics gaining traction, which eventually prompted Meta to scrap the concept entirely.
That’s likely at least part of the reason why Threads has also resisted calls for a straight trending list, with the new display only implemented after Meta also rolled out an update which actively reduces recommendations of political content, in order to limit topical exposure to users who’ve had enough of divisive political debates.
Maybe, with that restriction now in place, Meta now feels more confident that the trending list can be a more direct reflection of what users are engaging with, as political topics are less likely to gain traction, which will help Meta avoid accusations of bias or suppression.
Which could now mean that this is a more direct reflection of the topics people are posting about, as opposed to a curated list, though I do think that Meta will be implementing some level of control over what gets displayed, in order to limit the amplification of divisive, angst-inducing trends.
Because that’s not what Threads is all about.
Meta has repeatedly noted that its plan for Threads is to make it a more positive experience than Twitter was (and X now is), which it believes will be the key to its ultimate success.
Which is why political content is not a focus, because Meta users have repeatedly raised this as something they don’t like. At the same time, Threads needs a trending display, in order to enable users to engage with real-time trends, which is an element that X still leads the way on.
As such, it’ll be interesting to see what topics Meta highlights, or doesn't, within these displays, and whether the Threads team does actively look to avoid boosting certain topics, for fear of stoking more emotionally charged debates.
This element alone could make of break this as a functional addition.
