Threads Experiments With ‘Communities’ to Encourage Topical Engagement

Threads is experimenting with a new ‘communities’ feature designed to encourage topical engagement and spark more meaningful conversations among users.

Threads is testing out a new “Communities” feature, resembling X communities, aimed at surfacing a group of users around shared interests and to jumpstart more targeted conversations within the app.

New ‘Communities’ Feature to Encourage Topical Engagement

App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi shared the above screenshots, revealing topic-based discussion groups in development. These communities exist to unite people with similar interests, driving more engagement and conversation by giving a place for conversations around shared interests.

Such an approach could generalize the Threads algorithm by producing richer user preference data through topical engagement. Successfully cultivating large, interactive communities could also help position Threads as more of a direct competitor to X by serving as the new meeting point for more engagement.

Comparison with X’s Established Communities

Though there has been a drop in X’s users, given the habit of those groups to engage actively on the application or fan community, last March, X reported a stunning 600% year-over-year increase in the time spent inside communities and an average of about 650,000 community posts made every day.

It will not be easy to move these well-entrenched groups. Still, Threads adding its communities might draw users looking for a similar focused experience, potentially drawing interest away from X.

Threads’ Long-Term Development

Threads has been quietly building its community feature for a while, seen in testing as “Loops” about a year ago. While a launch is likely still far off, the continued development indicates that Threads has resolved to prioritize community growth.

Whether the function sees widespread use is unclear. Still, there is clearly potential to highlight user interests and generate more genuine topical interactions, which could have a dramatic impact on the platform’s engagement process.

Bottom Line

Threads’ communities feature represents a strategic move to enhance user connection and conversation, with promising implications for its competition with X and its role as a discussion platform.