What you need to know
- Threads announced “Dear Algo,” a feature that lets users control what pops up on their feed for “three days.”
- These Dear Algo requests bring personalization to Threads for people who make a request, and requests can be shared amongst everyone.
- Dear Algo is starting to roll out for users in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
If your Threads feed is looking, or rather, not looking how you want it, the platform is announcing a new way for you to take control.
In a press release, Threads announced that it’s rolling out “Dear Algo” this week for users on the platform. This feature is powered by the platform’s AI and will give users the power to control “what you see by letting you tell Threads what’s important to you in the moment.” A simple example would be March Madness (it’s coming up, you know?). If you’re interested in keeping up on everything NCAA basketball, a user could say, “Dear Algo, show me more March Madness action.”
The post clarifies that users must make a public “Dear Algo” Threads post. Much like the given example, you can follow this up with what you’d like to see more or less of on your feed.
Once you’ve shared what you want to see (or don’t), Threads says Dear Algo will follow your request for the next “three days.” Moreover, there’s a sense of community here, as users can take someone else’s Dear Algo request for their feed, too.
Additionally, users can view their active Dear Algo requests in the app. From here, users can quickly deactivate them and view requests that have previously expired.
Dear Algo is rolling out today (Feb 11) for Threads users in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The platform says it plans to bring this feature to more places “soon,” but there’s nothing set in stone for now.
Morphing the algorithm
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In its post, Threads says Dear Algo is designed to help users create an app experience that’s more personal to them. It lets users take control of their feed’s algorithm, which is something Meta also did with Instagram.
In December, Instagram users were treated to “Your Algorithm,” a feature that lets users “see and control” what the app’s AI thinks they want to see. This update only applied to Reels content, but Instagram plans to extend Your Algorithm to Search and the main Home feed. Users can check out their algorithm by tapping the hearts icon at the top right when watching a Reel.
From there, users can tell the AI exactly what they want and what they don’t.
Android Central’s Take
After Instagram, we’re now getting a similar update for Threads. I enjoy things like this; bringing customization into social media. At times, I’ve had instances where there are hobbies or what have you that would appear that’s made me go, “why am I seeing this?” With this, we can now directly influence what we see, even if it only lasts for a few days, which is probably my only issue. It would be nice if, perhaps, we could state how long we’d like the algorithm to adhere to this. I suppose, for now, this is a good start.
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