Threads is looking to add another way to help users follow event and topic-related discussions, with a feature that sounds a lot like Broadcast Channels, which is already available on Instagram and Messenger.
Broadcast Channels, which Instagram added in 2023, is essentially a one-to-many group messaging option, which enables users to follow creators or brand profiles in read-only mode, providing another way to stay up-to-date on key discussions and announcements.
Last week, Threads Chief Connor Hayes made this announcement at Coachella:
“We’re pre-announcing a new feature today, which is pretty cool, called live chats … Those that are out here on Threads know that we want to be this real-time conversation for what’s going on in the world, but sometimes, posting to feed fifty times over the course of an hour just doesn’t do what it needs to do for live conversation … In the future, [users] will be able to start a live chat, add a few other collaborators … who can send messages into it, and then people can subscribe and follow along and interact with it without actually being able to send themselves. So it’s like the group chat from your messaging app that your fans can follow along with.”
Which sounds like a more active version of Broadcast Channels. For example, Threads users could follow creators for Coachella, and get a dedicated discussion stream for that event, as opposed to reading updates within the main feed, or refreshing a users’ profile for the next post.
Which could be interesting, and could add something to the Threads experience, though it does feel like the main feed should provide this function already.
Twitter, which was the template for Threads, facilitated this type of interaction via hashtags, with users able to tap on a tag to get the full, real-time conversation on that topic.
The problem with hashtags was that they eventually got cluttered with spam and rubbish, with the most popular tags, in particular, becoming a target for scammers looking to amplify the reach of their posts.
Maybe Threads’ live chats will offer a more workable alternative, by limiting the amount of contributors to counter the junk peddlers, ensuring a more engaging stream of relevant updates.
Then it comes down to the creators who run each chat, and how engaging they are. Because by eliminating outside contributions, Threads risks losing that interactive element, which puts all the reliance on the hosts to keep things flowing, and ensuring the most relevant information is being shared in the stream.
That might not be as engaging as what Twitter chats once were, but the more restrictive approach makes sense, especially for big events.
Hayes didn’t give a launch date for the feature, but said it will start to show up in the app “over the next few weeks.”
