Threads is exploring games in chats, beginning with a basketball game. Launching in-message games would give Threads an edge over competitors like X and Bluesky, which don’t offer built-in games. It’s also worth noting this isn’t the first time Meta has explored in-message gaming, as Instagram launched a hidden emoji game in DMs last year.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/06/threads-is-developing-in-message-games/
As CEO Matej Svancer explained at the time, the idea behind his app was to offer users a more friendly and “easy-to-use gateway” to the open social web. Because of the different protocols these networks utilize, it can be difficult for newcomers who end up having to switch apps or limit their engagement to just their preferred platform.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/28/automattic-and-others-back-openvibe-an-app-thats-unifying-the-open-social-web/
Meta execs have acknowledged that ads are coming to its newest social network. "We definitely plan to bring ads to Threads," Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, who also oversees Threads, said in April. "At the end of the day, we're a business, and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free."
https://www.pcmag.com/news/brace-yourself-for-ads-on-threads-in-january
Threads, Meta's Twitter-like Instagram spinoff app, is exploring a new, more engaging look on web browsers that shows multiple columns of pages or feeds next to each other. Meta started testing the new layout for select web browser users on Thursday. "If you’re in the test, you can choose to keep things simple with a single feed, or add separate columns for your favorites searches, tags, accounts, saved posts, and notifications. You can choose to have specific columns update in real time," a Meta representative tells PCMag.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/threads-gets-a-tweetdeck-like-makeover-on-the-web
While Meta is continuously introducing new features to Threads, the company is also deploying new tricks to ramp up engagement on the platform. In its latest move, the social media giant is showing posts from Threads on Facebook. While Threads is offering its features for free, the platform has its shortcomings. It’s hard to follow news on the platform as not all news sources are posting breaking news on Threads.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/19/threads-latest-growth-hack-is-showing-posts-on-facebook/
Merely weeks after emerging as the apparent heir to address social media’s woes and generating over 100 million users in less than five days, Threads appears to be, well, fraying at the edges already with a recently reported 80% drop in daily active users since launch. The platform — celebrated early on for its “combination of the ridiculous, the lighthearted, and a little cringe” — has quickly become another example of the expeditious cycle by which innovation in social media operates and burns out users.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/30/in-threads-dwindling-engagement-social-medias-flawed-hypothesis-is-laid-bare/
Meta is releasing a web version of Threads, as it attempts to revive the social media platform. The rival to X, formerly known as Twitter, enjoyed meteoric growth when it launched in July. However, users then abandoned it just as rapidly, partly due to its limited functionality. Meta says the web version is part of a drive to deliver new features but experts warn more needs to be done to rebuild customer interest.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66574762