Threads is testing three new features that will give the stripped-down social platform a much-needed upgrade, especially for developers and businesses that like to use the desktop web version.
The updates, announced by Mark Zuckerberg today, include better data insights that allow you to see the age, gender, and location of the people who are viewing and engaging with your content. You can slice and dice that data to compare your followers with people who don’t follow you. Threads is also testing the ability to save multiple drafts (right now, you can only save one) and the ability to rearrange pinned columns, à la Tweetdeck. Threads is testing these products with a small group of its users, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see them right away. A Meta spokesperson said it’s working to bring the new features to everyone “as soon as possible.”
Thread is also working on a feature that will let you schedule posts to publish natively in the app. Testing for this hasn’t started yet, so no one has access to this feature right now, but it’s a good sign for people who use social media for work. When Threads finally released its API in June, third-party services like Sprout were able to fill in Threads’ gaps in scheduling and analytics services. Now, some of that functionality will come directly to the platform.
Threads Insights now shows the age, gender, and country/region of your viewers, sortable by accounts that do and do not follow you.
These updates may not look great on paper, but they will significantly improve the user experience. Threads has only been around for a little over a year, and the desktop version is even newer. Over the past year, Threads has maintained a minimalist approach to features—that is, it hasn’t had many.
When Threads celebrated its first birthday, I wrote that Threads needed better data insights, expanded search options, and more personalization options, among other things, to stay competitive with X and its copycat sites. With the introduction of these new features, Threads is giving us some things that will make using Threads much easier and better. Even small steps like these are steps in the right direction to give Threads users more control over their feed and engagement.
For more information, see how to link your Threads account to the Fediverse and how to mute certain words in your Threads feed.
