Meta’s latest application, Threads, has recently launched and is being touted as a potential rival to Twitter and other social media platforms. While the app may have initially intended to steer clear of political discussions, it seems that threads of politics are finding their way onto the platform regardless. Despite being in the testing phase with a select group of U.S. users, Threads’ trend feature has now become more widely available to all users on both desktop and mobile versions of the app, according to reports from users. (Although Instagram has clarified that the feature is still in its testing phase.)
Interestingly, the top three search trends on Threads at the time of writing are all related to President Biden’s State of the Union address. This includes discussions about his speech itself, the Republican response, and the notable heckling from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
This trend towards political discussions taking over Threads’ trend feature clearly showcases the nature of real-time platforms like Twitter, where users can quickly post their reactions to the current news of the day in short text posts. In this case, the highly divisive SOTU address on Thursday provided much fodder for users to share their opinions on polarizing topics such as abortion, gun control, taxes, the border, and crime.
It is worth noting that Meta has made efforts to distance itself from being a platform for political discussions after facing backlash for appearing to favor one side or the other. In 2016, the company changed Facebook’s Feed to prioritize posts from friends and family over news, and in 2022, it rebranded the News Feed as simply “Feed.” Furthermore, Meta has also admitted to discovering multiple Russian-linked disinformation campaigns aimed at influencing U.S. elections.
More recently, as the U.S. heads towards election season once again, Instagram announced that it would no longer actively recommend political content on both Instagram and Threads. This decision was met with discontent from many users who had joined Threads specifically for a Twitter-like experience after Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform, now renamed X. Creators who regularly post about laws, elections, and other socio-political issues were particularly displeased with this change.
However, there does seem to be one area where Threads is not suppressing political discussions (at least not yet), and that is within its trend feature.
Only time will tell how long Threads will allow political content to dominate its trend section before being replaced with something less divisive. This is certainly an aspect that we will continue to monitor closely.
Updated on 3/8/24, Instagram has released a statement confirming that the testing of the trend feature is still ongoing in the U.S.
