Meta is trying out a new Trending Topics section in their app called Threads, which is a competitor to Twitter. In this feature, popular conversation topics from social media will be gathered and highlighted using both AI and a team of human curators. They will identify what people are talking about the most and share it with other users who might be interested.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, announced the initial test of today’s trending topics on Threads in the United States. The plan is to expand this feature to more countries and languages once it’s fine-tuned.
These trending topics will appear in the search section and users’ personalized For You feed. It’s similar to a feature on Twitter, indicating Threads is competing directly with them. This feature is useful for quickly catching up on what’s happening online, and many find it helpful for staying informed.
The involvement of AI in curating these topics allows for a quick assessment of user engagement. It helps distinguish between topics with genuine interest and those with inflated numbers from random accounts. The goal is to present a more authentic list of trending topics.
Despite an earlier promise from Meta that Threads wouldn’t push political content, the Trending Topics feature contradicts this. Given its functionality, it’s likely to include political subjects like Trump, Biden, and the election. However, there might be an option to turn off political content, and it remains uncertain how this will impact the Trending Topics section. If it’s personalized, users may have control over the topics they see.
