Meta’s Threads has introduced a feature that’s long been part of Bluesky, namely custom feeds. Now, rolling out to all Threads users after a brief test, custom feeds allow you to compile a list of multiple accounts in one shot, typically all devoted to a specific theme or subject. The idea is to offer quick and easy access to related accounts that might not necessarily appear in the For You or Following feeds, certainly not altogether.
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In this regard, Threads is playing catch-up with Bluesky, which launched its own custom feed feature in May 2023. Bluesky offers several custom feeds to get you started, and you can then create your own. X, aka Twitter, offers a similar option called Lists, which provides several default lists and then lets you cook up your own.
To set up custom feeds on Threads, sign into the website, click the down arrow at the top of the screen, and then select the option to create a new feed. At the Create feed window, type a search word or term to find the accounts you’d like to add. For example, I used Star Trek as a search term.
From the results, you can add the search term itself, as well as, individual accounts to the feed. Adding the search term automatically includes any account that contains your term. When done, click Continue. At the next screen, type a name for your feed and then click Done.
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Your new feed pops up with posts from the added accounts. Back at the home screen, click the down arrow and you can choose to view the different available feeds — For You, Following, Liked, Saved, and the custom feed you created. You’re able to switch between new and recent threads. From there, you can create another feed, adding as many as you’d like to access different but related accounts, themes, and subjects.
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With more people leaving Elon Musk’s X, Bluesky and Threads have seen a surge in new users over the last couple of weeks. Bluesky hit and surpassed 20 million members on Tuesday with more than 1 million new signups in the week following the US presidential election.
But Threads is home to a vastly larger audience — now numbering more than 200 million — due to its connection with other Meta platforms, such as Facebook and especially Instagram. Most likely, users from X have been bumping up the numbers as well. More than 15 million people have hopped on board in November so far, while more than 1 million have been joining each day for the past three months.
