Threads begins rolling out "Trending now" feature in the U.S.

Threads begins rolling out “Trending now” feature in the U.S.،

Meta's Threads app is rolling out a new “Current Trending” feature to all US users, which provides a real-time overview of the most popular discussed topics. This launch follows a 5-week test with a small subset of users and will soon roll out to more countries and languages.

Mark Zuckerberg quickly made the announcement via his Threads account. The official Threads account and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri joined him in an announcement of their own.

Threads deployment begins "In fashion now" functionality in the United States

Source: discussions

The Trending Now feature leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the most popular topics based on what users are actively talking about. You'll find these trends both embedded in your For You feed and on the Discussions search page.

Currently, Threads limits display to five trending topics at a time, likely to maintain a focused list and avoid some of the pitfalls that have plagued similar features on other platforms. According to the report of EngadgetMeta has also said in the past that in order to maintain a safe environment on Threads, the company would use “content specialists” to ensure that news topics meet their safety guidelines.

Adding trends is a big milestone for Threads. Previously, users primarily discovered content through their own personal feeds or through the recently introduced “Tags” feature. The “Current Trends” feature helps break out of this bubble by providing ways to connect with others around broader topics.

It also opens a window for users interested in keeping up to date with news and current events within the platform, although Meta has expressed a preference for minimizing overt news content on Threads. The move, however, received mixed reactions from users and industry experts.

Many see the inclusion of breaking news as an important feature on an app that intends to compete with X (formerly Twitter) and other social media platforms. It remains to be seen whether the introduction of hot topics and their use will shift the platform's focus towards news coverage.