Search

Threads also needs to work on that little magnifying glass. Currently, you’re able to search for users to follow, but not topics, keywords, phrases or hashtags. This might seem like something that should be there from day one but, as above, it’s probably like this to maintain the illusion of activity. If you were able to search for your specific interests, you might see nobody on Threads is talking about it.

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Once the topics on the service start extending beyond awkward introductions, grabs for followers and “now all my Insta fans are going to see the real me in goblin mode LOL”, Meta will have to make some philosophical decisions about how it treats search. All current platforms seem to use it as an opportunity to put more specific follow suggestions in your face, rather than to helpfully surface information.

Clicking the magnifying glass on Instagram currently gives you a wall of “you might like” posts. Twitter promotes “trends” that are frequently nonsensical strings of words that have just happened to appear next to each other more often than usual, while searches for any legitimately trending terms inevitably lead to screens of crypto scams. Allowing users to feel like they can find conversations, rather than just content to consume or people to follow, will be key.

Accessibility and user experience

Surprisingly, Threads has launched without the ability to add custom alt text to images or custom captions to video, which are available in other Meta apps. This is an inexcusable omission that not only makes the app inaccessible to people with various disabilities, but makes me wonder if the whole service was launched a lot sooner than its developers had expected. The app can deliver AI descriptions and captions, but that’s not good enough.

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There are also no settings for font size, contrast, colours, themes or other standard accessibility features, though Meta has made changes in the first 24 hours that allow Threads to follow certain settings you’ve set on your phone at a device level.

Aside from that, there’s also the way Meta has tied Threads to Instagram. It does make sense if your goal is to get as many people using as possible, make sure they have friends built in and make sure nobody takes the handle of already-established brands and influencers. But it also makes the app out of bounds for people who don’t want Instagram, and prevents Threads users from deleting their account without also nuking their Insta. That’s not nice.

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