Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that a much-demanded feature is finally coming to Threads very soon. A keyword search function is on the way. Until now, the search box has only been useful for looking up user accounts.
In fact, the company is already testing the function in Australia and New Zealand. It plans to roll out keyword searches more broadly to English-speaking territories in short order.
A full-text search feature is seen as critical for Threads to challenge (or perhaps even supplant) X/Twitter as the go-to platform for public conversations, particularly around events that are happening in real time.
Threads is missing some other functions that could help it get to that point, such as a XPro formerly known as TweetDeck equivalent, but being able to search for posts is vital. It’s a key feature that could help Threads bring back some of the users who have drifted away after an initial spike in popularity.
To its credit, Meta has been quickly adding other important features to Threads over the last several weeks, including a full web version and chronological feed of posts. So, other functions that users have been asking for may not be far behind.