Meta expands Threads with Communities

Meta’s Threads, the text-first companion app to Instagram, is gradually evolving into something that looks and feels more like its main rival, Elon Musk’s X. The latest addition, called Communities, brings group-based discussions to the platform, creating a more organized space for users to gather around shared interests.

Communities on Threads will feel familiar to anyone who has used Reddit or X’s topic-based groups. Meta has been working on this concept for more than a year, with early references surfacing under the codename “Loops.” What began as hints buried in app code has now materialized into a full-fledged feature that’s rolling out across the platform.

Unlike Instagram hashtags—which are often used as a tool for reach and visibility—Threads tags are more functional. They’re designed to sort content into categories rather than maximize exposure, and users are limited to one tag per post. Communities take this one step further by building structured spaces around those tags, where discussions can grow without getting lost in the endless scroll.

Meta is testing Communities across more than 100 topics, spanning sports, entertainment, and pop culture. Early examples include NBA/WNBA Threads, Book Threads, K-pop Threads, and TV Threads. Each group has its own identity, represented by a custom emoji that appears when members interact with posts. For instance, those inside NBA Threads will see a basketball icon appear alongside their likes.

Membership in a community is public, making it visible on a user’s profile and pinned to their feeds menu. That visibility could help grow engagement by signaling affiliations and shared passions to others browsing the platform.

To discover a community, users can search directly for a topic or tap on a tag in their feed. If a tag has a three-dot icon next to it, it indicates that a dedicated community already exists for that theme. However, Meta acknowledges that the feature is still expanding, and not every interest currently has a dedicated space.

Meta is also preparing ways to encourage participation by rewarding its most active members. Soon, standout contributors in individual communities will receive special badges—similar to the “Top Fan” labels familiar to Facebook users. These markers will highlight users who not only engage regularly but also help shape discussions and nurture the growth of their communities.

The company hopes that by spotlighting influential voices, it can build stronger micro-communities within Threads, turning them into reliable hubs for conversation rather than fleeting moments of engagement.

Communities will eventually tie into the broader content discovery system on Threads, including its For You feed. Meta is experimenting with ranking tools inside communities to surface the most relevant or active discussions first. This means posts won’t just appear chronologically but will be prioritized based on engagement and perceived quality.

At the same time, Meta is aware of the criticisms surrounding recommendation algorithms—particularly when they create addictive, repetitive, or skewed feeds. To address this, the company is developing controls that let users influence their own recommendation systems across both Threads and Instagram. While the details remain sparse, Meta says it wants to give people more transparency and choice over what they see.

The introduction of Communities further blurs the line between Threads and X. When Threads launched in 2023, it positioned itself as a friendlier, more community-driven alternative to Twitter (as it was known then). Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and its rebranding as X, the platform has leaned heavily into real-time conversations, interest-based groups, and algorithmic feeds.

By adopting similar features, Meta is both acknowledging user demand and recognizing the necessity of competing head-on. The risk, however, is that Threads could lose the differentiating qualities that initially set it apart. For now, Communities seems designed to merge the best of multiple platforms: Reddit’s niche focus, X’s immediacy, and Instagram’s social graph.

While Communities is already live for select topics, Meta emphasizes that this is just the beginning. The company plans to add many more groups in the coming months, expanding the feature into a central part of the Threads experience. The rollout also suggests that Meta sees Threads not only as a companion to Instagram but as a platform capable of standing on its own.