Threads launches ‘Communities’: Meta formalizes what its users were already doing
Threads, the rival to X with over 400 million monthly active users, has just rolled out a major update: Communities.
Launched globally on Thursday, these features provide dedicated spaces around popular topics, including basketball, K-pop, books, and TV series.
Thematic Spaces Integrated into Threads
The concept is straightforward: to allow users to engage in deeper conversations about their interests without getting lost in global feeds.
Unlike X, where communities are created and moderated by the users themselves, Meta is managing and deploying the Communities on Threads. Posts shared within these spaces may appear in the For You and Following feeds, but only registered members enjoy associated perks, such as a personalized “Like” emoji (a basketball for the NBA community, a stack of books for the reading community, etc.).
Another unique feature is that membership in a Community is visible on each user’s profile, via a thematic tag. There is no option to hide it — Meta stands by this decision, stating that these tags should clearly reflect each person’s interests.
An Inspired Model
In reality, Meta is merely formalizing a behavior already adopted by users. Since its launch, Threads has seen the emergence of “Topic Tags” (the equivalent of hashtags, minus the hashtag symbol) that served as unofficial gathering points, with some themes like NBA Threads nearly structuring themselves into communities.
With this update, there’s no need to think about tags anymore: posts can be directly addressed to the corresponding community, with the feed even being set as the default display.
Threads vs X: Two Opposing Approaches
On paper, comparing to X Communities is unavoidable. On X, communities are more akin to Reddit: they are created by users, moderated in a decentralized manner, with their posts visible but limited to member participation.
Threads takes the opposite route, focusing on an experience curated by Meta, where the openness is broader (non-members can participate in discussions), but with centralized governance.
What’s Next?
Meta is already announcing upcoming enhancements: a smarter ranking system to highlight the best contributions, badges for the most active members, and a gradual expansion of new communities as demand grows.
In summary, with Communities, Threads aims to leverage its growth and fill the gap that has hindered its ability to compete with X in the realm of thematic discussions. By institutionalizing an organic usage from its users, Meta hopes to turn Threads into a true agora for shared passions — and take a significant step forward in its rivalry with X.
