Skip to main content

Twitter is testing a handy subscription feature for following threads

Twitter has confirmed it’s prepping the possible launch of a feature that will let you subscribe to a conversation, or thread, so you can keep track of contributions without having to like a comment or add a post yourself.

The news comes at the same time as the company released a new app called Twttr that will test new formats and designs for the main Twitter app in a bid to make the social media service more user-friendly.

The subscription feature was spotted in recent days by Jane Manchun Wong, a prominent app researcher who’s uncovered a number of new features undergoing testing on Twitter, as well as on other social media apps such as Instagram. The researcher tweeted a screenshot from Twitter that showed a button reading, “Subscribe to conversation,” with Wong commenting that the feature lets you subscribe so you can receive notifications of a new post on the thread without liking or replying to a post on the conversation, as you have to do at the present time.

Twitter later said that it is indeed testing the feature as part of its work “to make Twitter more conversational,” a strategy aimed at keeping users on the service for longer, giving the company more opportunities to serve up ads as people navigate the app.

This is just the latest of multiple efforts over the years by Twitter to make conversations on its platform more engaging. There’s no telling how the testing of this most recent feature is going, and whether it will ever be rolled out to the entire community, though with the trial ongoing, the company is probably yet to make a final decision.

Twttr app

In an effort to make the design of the app easier on the eyes, thereby offering a more pleasant Twitter experience for its community of some 320 million monthly users, the company also recently launched a new app called Twttr that invites regular users to test new features and offer feedback to its developer team.

Participants are also encouraged to share their experiences on the main Twitter app in the hope of generating a discussion among a broader base of users, giving the company even more insight into what people think of the test features.

“Twitter is exploring new ways to make the conversations you care about easier to read, understand, and join,” the company said when it launched the Twttr app.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The 10 big ways that Threads is totally different from Twitter
A series of mobile screenshots showing off the Threads app on a black background.

Threads is here and already has millions of sign-ups, no doubt due to the ease of its joining process, its immediate availability for both Android and iOS users, and the fact that its user interface shares lots of familiar features with its main competitor, Twitter.

But what about the differences between the two microblogging platforms? How has Threads already distinguished itself from Twitter? Like many Twitter users, you might be hungry for an alternative and are wondering how Meta's app differs from Twitter and if those differences are worth signing up for and learning how to navigate yet another social media app.

Read more
Threads off to a flying start as Zuckerberg posts first tweet in 11 years
Instagram Threads app.

The highly anticipated and potential Twitter killer Threads has landed and millions have already downloaded it, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Threads, built by Meta's Instagram team, went live on Wednesday evening and in just the first four hours received an impressive five million sign-ups, Zuckerberg said in a post on the new text-based app.

Read more
Meta’s Twitter rival Threads to launch on Thursday
Screenshots of Meta's Threads app.

As Twitter becomes evermore challenging to use following changes over the weekend limiting how many tweets a user can read in a day, as well as news on Monday that only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to use TweetDeck, attention is now shifting to Threads, a Twitter-like app that’s expected to launch for iOS on Thursday.

The rumor mill has been turning for months about Threads, which is also expected to launch soon for Android (via Google Play). It's not clear if it'll be fully accessible at launch, or whether sign-ups will be limited in some way, but all will be revealed soon.

Read more