Meta’s Threads app is bringing its “Trending Now” feature to Japan, following a successful release in the United States earlier this year.
Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, revealed the news in a Threads post.
The tool highlights conversations that generate real-time buzz, allowing users to discover popular topics in their groups.
According to Andrew Hutchinson, a social media specialist, Threads will add a list of the top five trending topics to the app’s search page, giving users a fast glimpse of what’s creating the most debate in the app at the time.
“Lots of folks outside the US have been asking for the “Trending Now” feature, and we’re working on bringing it to more countries. This week, we’ll begin testing the feature in Japan with a small number of people to start,” said Mosseri.
Meta claims that the Trending Now feature highlights real-time conversations, but it does not specify whether political subjects are filtered out of this part.
Threads intends to compete with existing participants in Japan’s social media ecosystem, particularly X, which maintains a strong presence through a variety of trending hashtags reflecting local interests. The introduction of trending topics has the potential to radically redefine user interactions on Threads, positioning it as a more dynamic platform for real-time debates.
Threads first introduced trending topics to U.S. users in February, in response to growing demand for a better method to stay up to date on the latest subjects, similar to how people used Twitter previously.
We earlier reported that though there aren’t any monetisation tools available yet, Meta plans to add advertisements to its Threads platform by the end of 2024.
The company is reportedly in discussions with advertisers over possible ad formats, such as Partnership Ads and integrations with its Advantage+ platform.
