Threads rolls out new features: ability to set following feed or any custom feed as the default, limit post replies to followers, a better video player, more
show people what you're into by adding topics to your profile. Tom Warren / @tomwarrenuk : Threads finally lets you set the following feed as default! 🥳 Threads will also now let you limit replies to just followers and add topics to your bio. Details 👇 https://www.theverge.com/... @bluesky_social : oh you mean this bluesky feature from *checks notes* 2023? Adam Mosseri / @mosseri : We're introducing more personalization tools that help you control how you express yourself and who you interact with on Threads. 👇🏼 Mark Zuckerberg / @zuck : Also, a lot of people asked to only allow quotes and replies from their followers. You can now customize this per post to control who chimes in on your posts. See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
This release turns earlier feed experiments into a more complete control layer. Threads had already added a chronological following feed and later tested custom feeds for profiles and topics; making either a default moves those choices from occasional views to a user’s baseline experience.
The new interaction controls arrive alongside profile topics and video improvements, extending Threads’ product work beyond discovery into audience selection and presentation. That matters because feeds and reply settings jointly determine both what users see and who can participate around a post.
First-order effects
- Threads users can make a following or custom feed their default, reducing reliance on the platform-selected starting feed for their routine use.
- Post authors gain follower-only reply and quote controls, while users can signal interests through profile topics and encounter an updated video player.
Second-order effects
- Creators and community managers can use follower-only discussion settings to narrow participation on sensitive or high-noise posts, potentially changing how they balance reach against conversation control.
- Custom-feed defaults make the quality and coverage of topic- and profile-based feeds more consequential to retention, following Threads’ prior custom-feed testing.
Third-order effects
- If these controls see sustained use, social platforms may increasingly compete on configurable discovery and audience boundaries rather than a single universal feed.
- The combination of feed choice and per-post participation rules points toward more user-shaped social spaces, though its effect depends on whether users adopt the settings as defaults rather than leave them untouched.
The trend: Threads is part of a broader shift from one-size-fits-all social feeds toward user-configurable discovery and interaction controls.