Threads will not get chronological search feature, says Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, cites bad actors | Tech News

Threads will not get chronological search feature, says Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, cites bad actors

Instagram boss Adam Mosseri recently revealed that Threads won’t get one popular feature that X already has - chronological search. Here’s why.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Dec 05 2023, 13:56 IST
5 Tech Titans who reacted to Twitter-killer Threads - Jack Dorsey to Elon Musk, check it out
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1/9 On their part, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, posted this note on the Threads app, “Here we go. We have lots of work to do, but we’re looking to build an open, civil place for people to have conversations.” (REUTERS)
Threads
2/9 At the same time, Meta Platforms CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said, "Our vision is to take the best parts of Instagram and create a new experience for text, ideas, and discussing what's on your mind.” (AP)
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3/9 On their part, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, posted this note on the Threads app, “Here we go. We have lots of work to do, but we’re looking to build an open, civil place for people to have conversations.” (REUTERS)
Threads
4/9 At the same time, Meta Platforms CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said, "Our vision is to take the best parts of Instagram and create a new experience for text, ideas, and discussing what's on your mind.” (AP)
Threads
5/9 Elon Musk - While Musk did not directly talk about the Threads app, the Twitter chief took a dig at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comment about how Twitter runs, saying, “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram.” Musk also responded to a meme with a laughing emoji on Twitter which showed a keyboard with copy-and-paste buttons, implying that Threads was just a copycat of Twitter. (REUTERS)
Threads
6/9 Jack Dorsey - The former Twitter CEO and current co-founder of Bluesky Social mocked the similar interface of several Twitter alternatives in a tweet. He wrote, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 7 Twitter clones.” (REUTERS)
Threads
7/9 Bill Gates - Announcing his arrival on the new microblogging platform, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote on Threads, “I’m excited to jump into @threadsapp,” while also sharing a GIF of him jumping over a chair. (REUTERS)
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8/9 Carl Pei - Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl Pei has also joined Threads. In his first post, he wrote, “I don’t know if Threads is going to make it or not, but at least it has closed the door for Bluesky.” (Bloomberg)
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9/9 M.G. Siegler - In a tweet, M.G. Siegler, general partner at Google Ventures wrote about Threads, “Sort of strange that Instagram is about to launch Threads to try to eat Twitter just as Retro is starting to eat Instagram Stories…” (Google Ventures)
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Chronological search won’t be coming to Threads, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri revealed. (Unsplash)

Threads took the world by storm when it launched on July 6 and it soon became the fastest platform ever to reach 100 million users, a feat that it took just 5 days to achieve. However, it has not been all smooth sailing for the platform. Moving past the initial days, Threads saw a drop in user engagement and traffic while facing competition from Elon Musk's X. To get the traction back, Meta has been introducing a lot of new features on Threads lately, including keyword search. However, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri recently revealed that Threads won't get one feature that X already has - chronological search. Here's why.

Why Threads won't get chronological search?

Just a few days ago, Mosseri took to Threads to announce the global rollout of keyword search on the platform. Below the post, a user asked the Instagram boss if the chronological search was also in the works. “Any plans to allow ordering search results chronologically (as in showing most recent threads first)?”, the user asked Mosseri, to which he replied that it wouldn't be allowed on the platform as it would “create a substantial safety loophole.”

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A few days later, Mosseri further clarified that allowing chronological search on Threads would open up the platform to spammers and “other bad actors”. In a subsequent post, Mosseri explained, “To clarify, having a comprehensive list of *every* post with a specific word in chronological order inevitably means spammers and other bad actors pummel the view with content by simply adding the relevant words or tags. And before you ask why we don't take down that bad content, understand there's a lot more content that people don't want to see than we can or should take down.”

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The Instagram boss revealed that search products need some ranking to avoid getting overrun by spammers and bad actors. “You can show results in chronological order, but you then need to omit bad content that does not quote cross the line and qualify to get taken down”, Mosseri further explained.

Thus, in essence, you shouldn't expect chronological search to arrive anytime soon. However, Mosseri also suggested that they aren't done working to improve search and they need time to work out how to make it work for real-time events. In the meantime, you can already take advantage of the keyword search feature on Threads, with more improvements expected soon.

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First Published Date: 05 Dec, 13:54 IST
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