Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down
As Bluesky's user numbers continue to rise, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says Threads will change its For You page to show fewer posts from accounts you don't follow.
The service has also framed itself as a candidate for public conversations online, while its API plans raised concerns about the mix of publisher and creator content. Reweighting the For You feed makes that balance more consequential for how audiences are built.
First-order effects
Posts from accounts a user follows should receive more prominence in Threads’ For You feed, while creators reaching people who do not follow them may see less distribution.
Creators and publishers that depend on recommendation-led discovery face an immediate incentive to convert viewers into followers rather than rely on individual posts traveling beyond their existing audience.
Second-order effects
The change shifts competition among creators toward follower retention and audience ownership, because a stronger follower graph becomes more important to feed visibility.
As Bluesky’s user growth is part of the backdrop, Threads’ product positioning becomes more directly comparable on whether users prefer algorithmic discovery or feeds shaped by chosen accounts and topics.
Third-order effects
If this approach persists, social ranking may move away from maximizing unconnected reach toward reinforcing explicit social graphs, reducing the relative leverage of viral distribution for newer accounts.
The trade-off will remain central: tighter relevance controls can address recommendation quality, but they can also make it harder for a platform pursuing broad public conversation to surface voices outside a user’s established network.
The trend: Social platforms are increasingly balancing algorithmic discovery against user-controlled, follower-based distribution as they compete for public-conversation use cases.
We are rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people you follow, which will mean less recommended content from accounts you don't follow and more posts from the accounts you do starting today. For you creators out there, you should see unconnected reach go down and conne…
@yz_hwang
Johnny Hwang on threads
Oh no, that's the opposite of what needs to happen on this platform. There needs to be some occasional unconnected/loosely connected site-wide viral content so that threaders can anchor their current experience to what's going on outside of their immediate circle + centralize co…
@sheconquerwealth
Gracey on threads
Then how you attract new eyes to your page? If all your content that you posted only reach your followers then how are you able to new broader audiences?
@guillecummings
@guillecummings on threads
Just let people have the option to default to the following feed if they want to. This is so stupid
@alexjvibes
Alejandro Jrz on threads
Pros: • More focus on content from people you follow, making the feed feel more personal and relevant. • Creators will have better engagement with their actual followers instead of random reach. • Less clutter from accounts you don't follow = cleaner feed. Cons: …
@justtonysimons
Tony Simons on threads
Yes, that was one of the biggest drawing factors to the platform, in my opinion. Being able to be seen without a huge community. Hard to build a community if nobody is being shown your content.
@jessgrossman
Jess Grossman on threads
wait did people ask for this? I love the unconnected reach - it's how I get new followers, and also how I discover new accounts...especially since I already have a “following” tab. this doesn't make sense...
@fpwellmanofficial
Fred Wellman on threads
Why don't you stop suppressing news and politics? This is so monumentally stupid. You are getting your ass kicked by Bluesky now because I'm actually allowed to talk about what I do for a living and care about. We are out of patience for you. The day you decided my content wa…
@yongsoochung
Yong-Soo Chung on threads
Does this mean smaller creators will get less reach?
@leo_morgan
@leo_morgan on threads
This was the USP of threads, and now you're removing it? I feel like this was the main reason people were using this app over X. Makes the following tab redundant also
@wilder_social
Mimi on threads
NO don't do this! Do this for IG but part of the reason I love Threads is that I can create my algorithm based on what suggested content I'm interacting with. It helps me expand my horizons and discover new account easier
@davidmfox
Dave Fox on threads
I'm sure Threads making multiple big changes this week after ignoring user complaints for months has nothing to do with BlueSky overtaking it in traffic and growth.
@rkrelentless
R.K. Russell on threads
Appreciate the transparency, Adam. Prioritizing content from accounts we follow is a good step, but it makes me wonder—what's the point of custom feeds if the algorithm is still filtering and rebalancing? Shouldn't users have more control over seeing exactly what they choose, w…
@whighsmith
William Highsmith on threads
Hahaha remember when he came on here 6 months ago and said small intagram accounts would get more reach. Anyone notice an uptick yet...? Anyone....?
@salrodriguez
Salvador Rodriguez on threads
Bluesky's growth really seems to be having an effect, huh?
@mollyjongfast
Molly Jong-Fast on threads
Too late, I think
@sgcarney
Scott Carney on threads
This seems like a good idea. Let's see if connecting with the people who actually want to follow you is better than connecting with random people to grow an audience that is algorithmically meaningless.
@broximar
Jesse on threads
Wow. @bluesky_social's impact should not be discounted. Meta is feeling it.
@tophrrrrr
Topher McCulloch on threads
oh... so this is why my for you feed is actually people I follow for the first time ever. does anyone else think lady gaga is an interesting artist?
@justtonysimons
Tony Simons on threads
This shouldn't make me as mad as it does, but I'm kind of agitated by this right now. The best part about this platform has been the algorithm being friendly to smaller accounts and showing us content from accounts we don't follow to broaden our horizons and create potential new…
@rstephens
Robert Stephens on threads
Getting warmer....🕰️
@chinmayanathany
Chinmaya Nathany on threads
This is why competition is good in any space - definitely not coincidental that @threads is making these improvements just as Bluesky is spiking!
@rob_talks_nonsense
@rob_talks_nonsense on threads
I suspect that some of us have been the guinea pigs for this already. I had a dramatic change in my connected/unconnected reach a while ago.
@alexbelenkyraleigh
Alex Belenky on threads
This essentially kills the smaller creators on Threads. Creators of Threads
@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo on threads
For You is going to start showing more content from people you follow and less recommended content. This is a tough tradeoff as it means people who've amassed a following will get more views from people who've chosen to follow them but smaller accounts will get less distribution…
@eripereira
Eri Pereira on threads
My feed is 100% better now
@jboitnott.bsky.social
@jboitnott.bsky.social on bluesky
Definitely smart of them business-wise to try to decrease ‘unnconnected reach’ because it's a cause of people escaping to other platforms like Bluesky.
@pippuri.bsky.social
Sami Pippuri on bluesky
They are in full panic mode [embedded post]
@mikemaney.bsky.social
@mikemaney.bsky.social on bluesky
This says it all, doesn't it? [embedded post]
@benadida.com
Ben Adida on bluesky
What could possibly be prompting this change? [embedded post]
@josefresco.bsky.social
@josefresco.bsky.social on bluesky
This will help, as my first impressions of Threads were very negative upon seeing only celebrities in my feed.
@jaypeters.net
Jay Peters on bluesky
NEW: Just a day after rolling out custom feeds, Threads is now tweaking its algorithm to show more content from people you follow. Another big change after Bluesky really started to take off — www.theverge.com/2024/11/21/ 2...