Key Takeaways
- The “Trending Now” feature is being tested by Threads in Japan.
- The feature showcases current discussions and trending subjects.
- The feature’s effectiveness will affect Threads’ expansion in Japan.
Following a successful launch in the US earlier this year, Meta’s Threads app is now available in Japan with its “Trending Now” feature.
“A lot of folks outside the US have been asking for the ‘Trending Now’ feature,” Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, indicating that the business is addressing user demand for this feature outside of the US.
By highlighting discussions that are creating buzz in real time, the tool hopes to let users find out what subjects are trending in their groups.
Threads aims to compete with well-known companies in Japan’s social media market, especially X, which keeps a strong presence by using a variety of popular hashtags that represent regional interests. Trending topics have the potential to drastically alter user interactions on Threads and establish it as a more lively forum for in-the-moment conversations.
On July 5, 2023, Threads emerged as Meta’s response to the mounting dissatisfaction with X under Elon Musk’s direction.
The debut of the app was planned to take advantage of users’ annoyance with X’s erratic behavior and contentious updates. Since its inception, Threads has developed, adding capabilities like post scheduling and even experimenting with fediverse integration, in addition to its core functions of text posts, image and video sharing, and interactions.
Although there have been occasional hiccups, the platform’s growth has been impressive. Threads observed a decline in activity following an initial spike that saw it achieve 100 million sign-ups in just five days. However, it has recovered remarkably since then. Mark Zuckerberg informed investors in April of last year that the site has over 150 million active users each month. According to reports, the figure increased to 175 million every month three months later.
Although it falls short of X’s 250 million daily active users, Threads’ long-term survival in Japan may depend on how well the “Trending Now” feature does there.
