Feb 13, 2024 11:16:00

Instagram and Threads stop recommending political content but test 'topic of the day' where political content may be displayed

Meta's social networking sites Instagram and Threads have revealed that they will be adopting an approach that will prevent them from proactively recommending political content posted by users they don't follow.

Update on Political Content on Instagram and Threads

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/continuing-our-approach-to-political-content-on-instagram-and-threads

Instagram will stop recommending political content

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/instagram-will-stop-recommending-political-content-rcna138178

In battle with X, Threads gets trending topics where politics will be allowed | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/12/in-battle-with-x-threads-gets-trending-topics-where-politics-will-be-allowed/

According to Instagram's official blog, political content related to laws, elections, social topics, etc. will not be actively shown as recommended content in topics such as 'Discover,' 'Reels,' 'Feed,' 'Recommended Posts,' and 'Recommended People.' This change applies to Instagram and Threads.

If users want to continue viewing these posts, they will need to change their settings themselves, which will be rolled out to Facebook at a later date.

'Our goal is to respect people's desire for political content while preserving the ability to choose how they interact with it,' Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.

Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads is testing a new trending feature called 'Today's Topics.' A Meta representative said, 'Political content can be a topic,' and it appears that political content will be displayed here.

'Today's Topics' is a feature that allows users to find timely topics being discussed on Threads, and real-time content will be displayed to users through an algorithm. TechCrunch, a technology media outlet, pointed out that 'Threads could become even more competitive with rival X,' naming rival service X (formerly Twitter).

Mosseri previously

said that Threads' goal is to create a public space for people interested in less angry conversations, and that 'politics and serious news are not recommended.' It is unclear whether this policy will be continued in the new 'Today's Topics.' The 'Today's Topics' feature will be introduced on a trial basis, starting in the United States.