Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, emphasizes that the new Threads app will not promote politics or hard news, stating that they are not worth the associated scrutiny, negativity, and integrity risks.
Mosseri believes that the platform can thrive without engaging in politics or hard news, pointing to the vibrant communities focused on sports, music, fashion, beauty, and entertainment. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has previously distanced itself from news and politics, reducing political content on Facebook and even removing “News” from the Facebook Feed’s name.
While Threads draws inspiration from Twitter, Mosseri has bigger aspirations. He aims to create a public square for communities on Instagram that have not fully embraced Twitter, as well as for those interested in a less hostile environment for conversations.
Despite its early success with over 70 million signups, Threads currently differs from Twitter. It features an algorithmic feed dominated by celebrities and brands. However, it is likely that politics and news will find their way onto Threads, especially with politicians and journalists potentially using the platform during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Instagram is working on implementing a feed dedicated to the accounts users follow and a chronological feed, which could make Threads a more valuable source for news. Nonetheless, Instagram’s focus is not to replicate Twitter’s past functionalities, indicating that a Thread-Deck-like feature is unlikely to be developed.
