David Bridges
Threads is actively enhancing user engagement by encouraging individuals to include specific interests in their profiles. This initiative aims to foster better discovery and facilitate meaningful connections among users within the app.
This example sequence demonstrates how users are now being prompted to add their interests to their Threads profiles, showcasing their preferred topics and the types of content they are likely to share.
According to Threads,
“By incorporating interests into your profile, you can showcase your passions and connect with others who share those same interests. The topics you choose will also appear in your home feed for easy access, and you have the flexibility to remove or add new interests whenever you wish.”
As a result, users will benefit from customized feeds that focus on their selected topics. These feeds can also be accessed by tapping on the topic tags found on any user profile. (I have reached out to the Threads team to inquire whether adding topics to your profile impacts the content seen in your “For You” feed, and I will provide updates once they respond).
It’s important to note that the ability to add topics to your profile isn’t entirely new; Threads introduced this feature last month. However, the current push aims to motivate a larger number of users to actively utilize this feature, ultimately developing a more comprehensive interest graph within the app and connecting like-minded individuals.
This initiative could also address a significant growth challenge for creators by helping them attract more followers within Threads.
The challenge arises from the fact that modern automated recommendation algorithms are finely tuned to each user’s personal interests based solely on their in-app activities. Consequently, users often feel less inclined to follow profiles, as they can rely on the algorithm to present content tailored to their preferences whenever they log in.
As a result, the frequency of users clicking the “Follow” button has diminished compared to previous trends. This shift explains why many Threads users have experienced stagnation in their follower growth after an initial surge.
In response to this trend, the Threads team has prioritized displaying posts from accounts that users currently follow. This strategy is designed to encourage following while also integrating more follow options within the content stream.
Listing interests on user profiles represents another strategic move in this direction. The Threads team hopes that this will contribute positively to increasing follower counts for creators.
However, the key challenge is to motivate more users to actively engage with this feature, which is why these new prompts have been introduced.
Threads is also working to spotlight trending topics within the post composer through innovative prompts that suggest adding a trending topic or one related to previously shared posts. The Threads team asserts that including topics in your posts can significantly enhance reach and engagement:
“Our internal data indicates that posts tagged with topics generally receive more views compared to those without tags, making them a powerful tool for expanding your audience.”
When combined, these features have the potential to strengthen the broader app’s interest graph, providing the Threads team with more data points to refine and tailor user feeds.
The primary motivation for these enhancements appears to be the ability for users to attract more followers.
You can easily add topics to your Threads profile by selecting “Edit profile” and then “Interests.” You can include up to 10 topics for display on your profile.
