Five Features Threads is Still Missing to Be a Twitter Killer
For a brand-new app, Threads launched in a highly functional form. Many of the things we’re complaining about took a long time to come to Twitter, and perhaps it’s unfair to judge something just a few weeks old with a mature (if deteriorating) app that first launched in 2006.
Still, the initial version of Threads is missing several features that we would find extremely useful, and as it evolves, there’s no doubt many of these will be coming in the near future.
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Direct messages
You can’t slide into someone’s DMs if there are no direct messages to slide into. A lot of people use Twitter as a person-to-person messaging app, something you just can’t do on Threads yet.
A follow-only timeline
Both Twitter and TikTok have algorithmically powered feeds that show you a mix of people you follow as well as additional suggested content. But, those apps also allow you to see only the people you follow, and in strict chronological order. Threads, right now, is just a catchall of people you follow and app-chosen content, all mixed together in a confusing timeline.
Real search
I can’t imagine this isn’t coming to Threads very, very soon. Right now, the app’s search function only searches users, not the actual content of posts. If you’re looking for a specific person or brand, that’s fine, but it’s not very useful otherwise.
Trending topics and Hashtags
Hashtags were a user-invented early Twitter hack to help make content easier to find, and the idea was quickly adopted as an official feature. Trending topics helps show you what’s hot at the moment, and social media apps are in large part about keeping a finger on the zeitgeist. Both of these are missing from Threads 1.0, but I can’t imagine something similar isn’t in the works.
Inline advertising
So far, threads has no sponsored posts, like the ones that seem to pop up every few seconds scrolling through modern-day Twitter. That’s a good thing, at least in this early stage. This is still Meta/Facebook/Instagram, so have do doubt, ads are coming. But for now, let’s enjoy this relatively commerce-free experience.
More on Threads:
Threads Hands-On: Instagram’s New App Might Just Be Dull Enough to Beat Twitter
Everything We Know About Threads, Instagram’s Twitter Killer App
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