Threads adds tools for creators navigating blurry algorithm lines

The news: Threads introduced a transparency dashboard for creators to see how their content is appearing in feeds and timelines.

• Creators can see when their posts have been removed or demoted in user feeds for violating community guidelines or being flagged as divisive.
• The Account Status dashboard also notifies users if they’ve been blocked from commenting, following, and liking due to community standards violations and helps them appeal any erroneous penalties.

This month, Threads surpassed 350 million monthly active users, putting it on track to outpace X.

Why it matters: In January, Meta put political content back into feed recommendations, axed its fact-checking program, and removed many restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender identity.

These changes may be making it harder for creators to track what content gets elevated in user feeds and which topics get dinged by Threads’ recommendation algorithm. Transparency could help prevent creators from shifting their content to be more generic to avoid algorithm penalties or potentially dampening their creativity.

Alternative algorithms: Providing insights on moderation decisions and shadowbanning could help Threads’ insights match up with other social media platforms.

• TikTok offers an account status page with information on whether specific videos have been flagged or downvoted.
• Reddit notifies users when content is removed, especially by automatic moderators, though its tools are less centralized than Meta’s or TikTok’s.
• YouTube’s channel dashboard informs users of whether their accounts have any strikes and if content is being demonetized for containing copyrighted information or violating community guidelines.

Other Meta updates:

• Video ads on Threads. This builds off of its global expansion of static ads, which launched in April.
• Trends in Instagram’s Creator Marketplace. It lets influencers and content creators monitor which topics are trending and where to maximize content performance.
• Ads in trending Reels. This places ads in popular creators’ Reels to help advertisers reach large audiences.

Our take: More transparency about its algorithm and how platform rules decide post performance could encourage creators to stay on Threads and boost its status over X.

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