Meta’s X rival, Instagram Threads, is continuing to enhance its features with the addition of support for polls and GIFs. This update follows a series of recent releases for the app, including a web version, an edit button, profile switching, likes, full-text search, a chronological feed, voice posts, and more. With its rapid development, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed optimism that Threads could become Meta’s next billion-user app.
Key Takeaway
Instagram Threads, the competitor to Meta’s X, is introducing polls and GIFs to its platform, further enhancing its user engagement. This comes as Threads seeks to attract more users and compete with other social media platforms.
Threads adopts popular Twitter features
Polls have become a popular engagement tool on Twitter and other platforms, allowing users to voice their opinions and attract followers. Threads will now allow users to create polls that run for 24 hours and have control over who can respond to them. This feature not only enables user engagement but also offers a fun way to gather opinions on personal matters.
GIFs have remained popular among online users, despite a shift in perception among younger generations. Meta had acquired Giphy for $400 million in 2020 but was later forced to divest due to antitrust regulations. Giphy now powers the new GIFs option on Threads, allowing users to easily enhance their messages.
Threads aims to compete with X
Polls and GIFs are small but important additions to Threads as it competes with platforms like X. These features put Threads on par with X and even ahead of some of its competitors. While Threads currently supports audio and video calls, it still has more to do in order to truly rival X, such as becoming a real-time news source and offering more discovery features.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has previously stated that Threads would not amplify news on the platform. However, there have been reports of Threads developing a Trending Topics feature, similar to Twitter. The release date for this feature remains uncertain.
In conclusion, Threads’ addition of polls and GIFs demonstrates its ongoing efforts to attract and engage users. Though it still has some ground to cover to fully compete with X, it is making significant progress in becoming a formidable challenger in the social media landscape.
