Instagram’s Threads says that it has made a change that might have altered how people’s social media looks.
The Meta-owned social media platform recently made a change to its algorithm that aims to show people more posts that they might actually want to read, according to its boss. The app appears to have changed its algorithm so that it will show more posts from accounts that users actually follow.
The announcement comes shortly after a theory swept Threads, X and other platforms that suggested that the number of automated accounts across social media had dramatically reduced. Users have rejoiced in the fact that they were seeing more posts from people they actually wanted to interact with.
Many pointed to an attack on Russian internet company Yandex that took down a large number of its servers. That led to suggestions that the same incident could have removed automated traffic from the internet.
Data does suggest that the incident dramatically reduced bot traffic from Yandex, and from Russia more generally. But there is nothing clear to indicate that it meaningfully reduced the number of automated accounts posting online, since that automated traffic can be used for a range of different purposes.
But there may be other reasons that the range of posts across different social media platforms feels like it has increased in quality in recent times. Threads said that it had recently made a change intended to “show you what we think you'll be interested in”, which includes making tweaks that mean the feed will show more posts from accounts that users actually follow.
“On Threads, we're always trying our best to show you what we think you'll be interested in,” wrote Connor Hayes, the head of Threads at Meta. “This involves a mix of posts from profiles you already follow, as well as some you may not have discovered yet.”
“We recently made a change that could increase the posts you see from those you follow. For creators, this should mean you see on average more reach to your followers. For everyone, this should hopefully mean you get a better feed filled with more of what you want.”
Mr Hayes did not confirm exactly when the change had gone into effect.
