Meta's social network, Threads, has announced a slew of new features aimed at enhancing user engagement and staying competitive in the rapidly evolving social media landscape. With over 320 million monthly active users, Threads is now rolling out features related to topics, reply controls, and video playback, among other things, to make the app more relevant and engaging for its users.

The new features come at a time when Threads faces increasing competition from alternative networks like Bluesky, which has gained popularity with over 33 million users. To help users better connect with others who share similar interests, Threads is now allowing users to add up to 10 topics they're interested in to their profile. Tapping on these topics will show related posts, making it easier for users to engage with others who share their interests.

Another feature introduced by Threads is the ability to add suggested trending topics to new posts. When composing a post, users will see prompts to add a suggested topic, which aims to help posts reach a wider audience interested in the same subject. Threads is also introducing a redesigned topic tag, which looks like a pill and is found next to posts on the For You feed. Users can quickly tap on the tag to see all posts tagged with that particular topic.

Threads claims that posts with tagged topics "generally receive more views" than those without, but the company didn't share any specific data to back up this statement. Additionally, the platform is introducing a feature that allows users to manage how people interact with their posts and the posts they see. Users can now allow only their followers to reply to or quote a particular post, building on the quote control feature launched in November 2024.

Other updates include the ability to shuffle the order of custom feeds, allowing users to make a custom feed the default when opening the app. This feature was highly requested by users. Furthermore, Threads is launching a redesigned video player with easy-to-access pause/play and skip controls, along with a pinned progress bar to easily scrub through videos.

Notably, Meta has also started phasing back civic and political content into Threads in a more personalized way. The company had previously stopped proactively recommending political content to users on Instagram and Threads ahead of a critical U.S. presidential election. Now, Meta aims to re-create the echo chamber where users' worldviews are reinforced without exposure to opposing views.

Meta says it will continue to listen to user feedback as it further develops Threads. With these new features, the company aims to stay competitive in the social media landscape and provide a more engaging experience for its users.

Additional reporting by Sarah Perez.