Instagram Threads Just Fixed One Of Its Most Obvious Missing Features
Instagram Threads, Meta's microblogging platform seen as a rival to Twitter, has only been around for over a month. While the platform shattered several social media records in the first few days of its operation, things haven't looked great for Threads ever since, with user engagement numbers hitting new lows.
Given that the Threads ecosystem could only be accessed using a smartphone running iOS or Android, the lack of a proper web version of Threads was thought to be a major reason behind the platform's low numbers. After discussing it for weeks, Meta has begun rolling out the web version of Threads across the globe.
In its initial form, the web version of Threads offers a limited set of functionalities compared to the app experience. Currently, users can only post new threads, view their feeds, and interact with other posts. For more advanced operations — like updating your Threads profile — users are still expected to switch to the official iOS and Android apps.
Meta has indicated that a full experience is under development and will release soon. The official rollout of the web version of Threads comes days after Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri revealed that they were internally testing the web version before deployment.
How long before Threads becomes a proper Twitter rival?
Even with the arrival of the web interface, Threads is a far cry from becoming a proper alternative to Twitter. The platform, for example, still doesn't have the ability to perform searches related to trends and news, and restricts search queries to user handles.
The platform also doesn't support hashtags, which further limits the platform's ability to act as a real-time news source. However, given the pace at which Meta has been updating Threads with new features, we may be looking at a very different Threads experience a few months down the line.
It would also be interesting to see if engagement levels on the platform improve once these new set of Twitter-like features make it to Threads. Before the functional web interface launch, Meta only let users access individual posts on the web interface. This was a major irritant for people who wanted to respond to a post but were compelled to install the app for the ability. With the launch of the functional web interface, this will hopefully be a thing of the past.