How to use features in Threads you might not know about

Threads is ripping Twitter apart and taking over as one of the fastest social apps to gain popularity. As it’s so new, there are a lot of features that might not be so obvious. Here are just a few we’ve found during the initial launch, including muting people and quickly following other Threads users.

If you’re unfamiliar with Threads, that means you’re not one of the 100 million people to sign up in just a matter of days. That figure was released by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg only a couple of days ago, so the real number is likely to be much higher at the time of writing.

The social app is a hybrid between Instagram and Twitter, as it was developed by Meta, the owner of Instagram. Since its rollout, it’s taken on the social personality of Instagram with the format people appreciated on Twitter. Go figure, “threads” just refers to the format most content comes in.

Contrary to its incredible resemblance to the increasingly unstable social giant, Threads has a few features that haven’t been quite so publicly advertised.

Quick follow

One of the biggest “duh, why didn’t this exist before?!” features in Threads is the Quick Follow feature. Rather than diving into someone’s profile and hitting the Follow button, you can simply tap the plus icon next to their user handle and confirm you want to follow them.

We found this most useful when first setting up the new app. Since the app connects to Instagram, there are a ton of useful follow suggestions at the ready. Tapping the little plus icon next to everyone I already know means I can go on a following spree.

New thread shortcut

Each post is called a “thread,” unsurprisingly. Users can string multiple together to create a long-form post that always ties back to the original content. In normal use, you can draft a post and tap “Add to a thread” to tag a secondary post onto it. This creates your long-form thread before it’s even posted.

Rather than hitting “Add to thread,” Threads has included a neat trick. Simply draft your first post and then hit enter on your keyboard three times. That third tap will trigger a new thread and will move the cursor to a blank slate that’s automatically connected to the previous post.

This can be done over and over again to create a huge thread. While it’s almost just as easy to tap in the new post box to create a new tagged thread, the trigger has a place in muscle memory and comes in handy.

Mute profiles

My experience with Threads initially consisted of a homepage that was pulled straight from the Instagram algorithm, filled with content I could care less about. The more people you follow in Threads, the more your home screen is filled with content you’re more apt to appreciate, but it does take some training.

If you come across accounts you don’t want to hear from, you have the option to “mute” that Threads user. The feature is pretty common across social platforms, but that doesn’t make it any less useful. All you need to do is hit the three-dots menu on a post from the Threads account you want to mute. When it appears, hit the Mute option.

Muting someone in Threads hides their posts from you and allows you to browse without seeing their content. The account you mute won’t know you muted them.

Hidden words

Another useful content blocker is the hidden words feature. By heading into the Privacy page from your profile, you can find and tap Hidden Words.

This section allows you to hide both offensive replies and replies that contain specified words or phrases. At the bottom of that page, you can enter certain words or phrases you don’t want to see.

This feature doesn’t seem to hide posts that you haven’t interacted with, much like Twitter’s hidden feature. That feature was useful for hiding spoiler posts or muting certain topics, though it has a different application here.

Threads is still brand-new, so there will be more features to come as the app progresses. There is already an Android beta open to the public. It should house a good few features before they fully release. With over 100 million accounts in a matter of days, there’s no reason that the app should hit a standstill on tools to make using the app a better experience.

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