Meta is starting to test a TweetDeck-like experience for Threads today. It will allow Threads users to create customizable feeds that are stacked in a column interface on the web — just like TweetDeck did before it became a paid service and was rebranded to X Pro last year.
“If you’re in the test, you can choose to keep things simple with a single feed, or add separate columns for your favorite searches, tags, accounts, saved posts, and notifications,” explains Meta spokesperson Seine Kim in a statement to The Verge. “You can choose to have specific columns auto-update in real time.”
Meta will be selecting Threads users to test this new experience in the web version of Threads, and a screenshot shows that it’s very similar to TweetDeck. You can choose whether a column automatically updates with the latest posts and pin columns full of search results or posts from a single user profile.
This new interface is likely a response to common complaints from Threads power users about being forced into the algorithm-powered For You feed every time you visit Threads on the web. Threads does have a real-time Following feed, but you have to bookmark the following URL or switch every time you load Threads on the web. The same thing happens on the mobile apps, as Meta has hidden the Following feed beneath a tap on the main Threads logo.
TweetDeck was a popular third-party app for accessing Twitter before the company acquired it in 2011. Features like multiple account support and customizable feeds made it a popular tool for power users, journalists, and marketers who used Twitter daily. You now have to pay for an X Premium account ($8 a month) if you want to access the rebranded X Pro.
Alongside this new TweetDeck-like UI on Threads, Meta is also launching a chronological recent tab for searches on the service. “Search results here are still evaluated for quality, but you can now see them in chronological order,” says Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.
