Threads, Meta's rival to Bluesky and X, is adding a new post scheduling feature.
It's also testing post analytics reporting and is expected to introduce ads as soon as next month.
Threads, Meta's attempt at a Twitter killer, has been pushing lots of new features recently. With Bluesky's growth shooting skywards, it's been coming up with its own versions of popular tools such as Starter Packs, which help you find people to follow.
However, unlike Bluesky, which is more of a free-for-all, Threads is really focused on influencers and brands, and its latest new feature is designed to appeal to both.
According to Threads boss Adam Mosseri, Threads will soon enable you to create scheduled posts that you can write in advance.
That's something brands and other business users use all the time on networks such as X – it enables them to create a social media posting campaign that they can then deliver at specified times. It's also quite handy for smaller businesses who want to reach global audiences across multiple time zones but who would quite like to go to bed.
The end of ad-free Threads is nigh
The new scheduling feature, which is coming imminently, won't let you schedule replies; it's purely for broadcasting. It's also not the only business and brand-focused feature that Threads is working on.
It's testing X-style posting analytics, which enable account administrators to see how effective each post is and see who's viewing, when they're viewing and where they're coming from.
A particularly big change for businesses, and an equally big change for the rest of us, is believed to be imminent too. Rumours suggest that Threads will come out of its ad-free era as soon as next month.
Threads is currently the biggest of the X / Twitter rivals by a very large margin. While Bluesky is growing more quickly, it only has around 25 million users compared to Threads' claimed 300 million. However, it'll be interesting to see what happens after Threads becomes much more of a brand platform than it already is.
Even though Adam Mosseri says the service wants to prioritise "real-time conversation", anyone with a Facebook or Instagram account knows that that hasn't been the Meta priority for several years now.
