Instagram’s Threads is launching search just one week after releasing its online platform.
The new search tool, like the web version, lets users search for other Threads profiles by username.
As with earlier releases, this version lacks advanced search filters and settings. Get pumped: search is coming to Threads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a thread.
A report states that the search page is being tested in Australia and New Zealand before being rolled out to other English-speaking countries.
Read also: How to use Threads on your PC web browser
Zuckerberg to increase Threads engagement with new features
Threads has quickly added the most-requested features, such as a following tab, a place to see your likes, a reposts tab, a web version, and a full-text search.
This could be because user engagement on the platform has dropped sharply since its hyped-up launch, and the company has been rapidly adding new features to try to get growth going again.
In a Threads post, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri claimed the goal isn’t to replace Twitter. The idea is to provide a public square for Instagram communities that never adopted Twitter and Twitter (and other platform) groups that want a less furious location for conversations, but not all of Twitter.
Twitter thrived after Threads launched because its search engine lets users easily explore topics, events, and discussions. Threads initially only allowed Instagram-imported personal circles to engage. Users immediately realized they needed a search capability to connect with people outside their networks.
In Q2 this year, Mastodon, a decentralized social platform, updated its in-app search with media post and timestamp filters. Basic search may assist Threads’ declining active user numbers despite a speedy deployment.
The corporation will use search to boost platform engagement. Hashtags, another user-requested addition, are still unknown when they will be offered to the public.
Users have inundated the comment area begging for a hashtag feature in response to Mark Zuckerberg’s major announcement, but Meta may be doing things differently.
With a search tool that lets users search keywords and terms, it may not launch a hashtag feature soon.