Meta's Twitter clone Threads now stands at 106 million members, where the initial momentum is slowing as behaviors start to normalize and usage becomes a more indicative measure.

And we don't have any usage stats as yet, with Meta still working to ensure the new platform keeps running - but Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has outlined some of the early development priorities for the app, which should see improvements rolling out very soon.

According to Mosseri, the key points of focus right now are:

Followed feed

There's one notable omission from the original Threads design: a feed filled only with posts from the profiles you've chosen to follow in the app - meaning that, at the moment, all you have is to scroll through a list of updates from profiles that the basic Threads algorithm deems you might be interested in.

This is also constructed based on your IG feed, so there’s an additional level of relevance, but users have been calling for a more specific feed, similar to the ‘For you’ versus ‘Following’ feed on Twitter. Mosseri says that this will be coming soon, with improvements shipping from this week.

At the same time, it would also be interesting to know whether this was an intentional decision.

Mosseri says that the Threads team felt like they needed to ship the app quick because the window was closing for a competitor app but maybe, by forcing early users to see content from profiles they don't already follow, as opposed to just building a feed of their existing IG connections (and seeing people replicate their Twitter follows in the app), that could help expose people to more profiles that may be of interest, fueling more engagement.

Either way, this is coming, which will be a big addition for the app, bringing it into closer parity with Twitter.

Edit button

The much-debated edit button is coming to Threads, despite Twitter’s long-standing reluctance to add one.

I mean, you do have a tweet editing option, of sorts, right now, if you're a Twitter Blue subscriber. But Facebook and Instagram have offered post-editing for a long time, and Threads looks set to be more aligned with Meta's approach on this front, with full post-editing to be enabled at some stage.
Which makes sense. The concern for Twitter here is that with the inclusion of an edit button in its short messages, the meaning of the tweet could be dramatically changed, which could be troublesome for retweets, embeds etc.

Threads, at 500 characters, are longer than tweets. And as discussed, Meta has offered post editing for years in its other apps, with minimal relative concerns on this front.

And a nice topper - you won't be charged for it on Threads.

Search posts

The search feature in Threads, currently, is just to search for people – at least there are no search features whatsoever on the web version.

That will change soon, making the product more useful and discoverable, which may make it easier for users to join the conversations that interest them and provide even more ways to find relevant Threads insights on top topics.

Mosseri hasn't mentioned whether there'll be a trending module, which might actually go against the broader ethos of the app in avoiding political and news discussion (or at least, lessening its presence in-stream). But improved discovery is on the initial update list, which will make it a more functional platform.

Desktop app

He has yet to provide specific notes on when a fully-functional desktop version of the app is coming, but it's another addition to the list – and a big one for social media managers.

Obviously, most of your management time is going to be done via desktop PC, and so the sooner that Threads can be added to desktop - and post-scheduling can be added to the API - the better in this respect.

Though when it becomes available on desktop, that'll probably experience many more brands posting even more, which is probably something Meta doesn't want to happen too soon, at least until it has a optional 'Following' feed active.

It's still another important point on the development board.

EU Access?

As we reported yesterday, Threads is not yet available to European users in light of regulatory checks and balances relating to the new EU Digital Markets Act.

The developer has provided some more insight into this, with Meta's Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman commenting that:

We'd have liked to get Threads available in the EU at the same time as other markets, and the app does comply with GDPR requirements today. Building this offering up against the backdrop of other regulatory requirements which have not yet been clarified could take considerably longer and in light of that uncertainty we prioritized getting this new product out to as many people as possible.

In other words, Meta is still working towards ensuring that the app meets all the new EU regulations before its launch, which will take a little longer to tick off the list. So, instead of waiting to build them into the app now, it went ahead and launched the app everywhere else first.

As such, there is still no timeline set for when the app will be available in Europe as yet.

Removing your account

Less a coming update, and more a point of clarity, Mosseri has also explained that you can deactivate your Threads account without deleting your IG profile.
So the question, as it stands, is that your Threads profile is linked to your IG account-so if you want to wipe your presence clean, you do have to delete both. But you can still deactivate your Threads account, if you please, without deleting IG.

As Mosseri points out, that will be covered in an upcoming update.

The Threads team is also working on hashtags, voice notes, and photo and video tagging, while Meta’s also adding Branded Content tags, government-affiliated account labels, and fact-check markers, so the app meets its existing app specifications.

In essence, the app you’re looking at right now is only the basics of what it will be – which is significant to note, considering that it already has so many users.

Or members. Instagram has exceeded its expectations in this regard, by making it so easy to sign-up, but the simplification of that process may also be juicing the figures, and we won't know anything much on this till Meta reports its actual Threads usage and engagement stats.

But I do sense that with such new entrants, it will stick among the majority of users. It's an innovation, a fresh take on Twitter's traditional turf; and that along with related affiliation to IG, which has over a billion users, may just be all Meta needs to make it a big success.