Threads Tests “Communities” to Deepen Topic-Based Engagement
In a bid to deepen engagement and better compete with rivals like X, Meta’s Threads is introducing a new “Communities” element to its platform. Over the past week, selected users have begun receiving invites to join topic-based group discussions within the app, an early sign of Threads’ push into structured and interest-driven conversation.
The invitation emails sent to creators and early adopters explain that “Communities help you find and connect with your people … and soon, there’ll be more features that recognize the active voices in a community.” Threads’ leadership, including head Adam Mosseri, acknowledge the feature is still in its early days, noting substantial further development is needed to make the experience genuinely engaging.
Though the roll-out initially targets a subset of users, the communities functionality is already discoverable more broadly. Users can now browse and join those groups aligned with their interests, after which the chosen community becomes an interest tag on their profile. Communities are surfaced both in individual feeds and labeled in the “For You” stream. Users also gain navigation access, with communities accessible via a left-hand sidebar and the option to prioritize a given community feed by default.
This move builds on features that were spotted in development earlier this year – sometimes referenced internally under the name “Loops” – which aimed to allow more fine-grained interest grouping in the app. Analysts see the feature as part of Threads’ broader strategy to sustain user interest beyond viral moments, giving users more places to live on the platform via ongoing, niche conversations.
Meta is likely banking on the success of communities to both improve retention and enhance the richness of the content graph—community membership may serve as a stronger signal for personalization and relevance. For now, the communities feature is experimental and still evolving. But if it gains traction, it could help Threads become more of a conversation hub, something that would definitely drive more engagement on the platform overall.
