Meta’s social network, Threads, which has over 320 million monthly active users and competes with X, is introducing new features related to topics, reply controls, and video playback, among other updates. The company is also personalizing political content suggestions for users.

These features aim to make the app more engaging for users and increase relevance, as Meta faces growing competition from alternative networks like Bluesky, which has gained over 33 million users and is inspiring rivals to Instagram.

To enhance user connections, Threads now allows users to add up to 10 topics of interest to their profile. Tapping on these topics will display related posts, making it easier for users to engage with others who share similar interests.

The company had begun testing this feature earlier this month, as reported by TechCrunch. Although the feature is still in the testing phase, it has been rolled out more broadly today.

When creating a new post, users will see prompts to add suggested trending topics or topics related to their previous posts. These topic tags aim to help posts reach audiences interested in the subject, according to Meta.

Threads is also introducing a redesigned topic tag, which appears as a pill next to posts on the For You feed. Users can tap on the tag to view all posts tagged with that topic.

Meta claims that posts with tagged topics generally receive more views, although the company did not provide specific data to support this statement.

Another new feature enables users to manage how others interact with their posts. Users can now choose to allow only their followers to reply to or quote a specific post.

This update builds upon the quote control feature introduced in November 2024, which allowed users to limit quote posts to anyone, profiles they follow, or those they’ve mentioned.

In November, Threads also began experimenting with allowing users to choose a default feed that isn’t the algorithmic feed, after rolling out custom feeds globally to compete with Bluesky.

Now, Threads will enable users to shuffle the order of their custom feeds, allowing them to make a custom feed the default when opening the app – a feature users have been requesting.

Another update improves video playback on Threads, introducing a redesigned video player with easily accessible pause/play and skip controls, as well as a pinned progress bar for easy video scrubbing.

Notably, Meta has started phasing civic and political content back into Threads in a more personalized way.

In 2024, Meta decided to stop proactively recommending political content to users on Instagram and Threads, ahead of a critical U.S. presidential election. After the election, Meta announced it would begin bringing back political content on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismantled the company’s fact-checking program after the election, opting to rely solely on community moderation efforts.

As part of these efforts, Meta will re-add political content to users’ feeds based on what it determines they want to see, effectively recreating an echo chamber where users’ worldviews are reinforced without exposure to opposing views.

Meta says it will continue to listen to user feedback as it further develops Threads.

Additional reporting by Sarah Perez.