Summary
- Instagram’s Threads app is testing a new archiving feature to hide posts from user profiles, similar to Instagram’s existing functionality.
- Auto-archiving is optional, with users able to manually archive posts or have the app do it after a set time period.
- Threads continues to add new features, showing innovation in the social media space and potentially putting pressure on rival platforms like X/Twitter.
There’s no dearth of social media apps that you can try out today. However, some major platforms, like X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc, stick out, mainly due to the sheer volume of active users. We see competitors trying to eat into each other’s market share from time to time, with Meta taking that route last year when it announced Threads. While its popularity may have plateaued a bit since its initial arrival, the app continues to work on new features, with a new test bringing the familiar archiving feature to the Meta-owned platform.
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Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced the test via his Threads account, saying that “a small number of users” should be able to archive their posts on the platform (via The Verge). Users can either manually archive posts via the three-dot button at the top-right of each post or have the app do it automatically after a predefined period of time.
Mosseri emphasizes that auto-archiving is an optional feature and won’t be set as the default based on the “resounding feedback” received through a recent poll. The Instagram head didn’t specify if this test is limited to certain regions, though we won’t be surprised if more Threads users start seeing the option over the coming days and weeks.
Instagram already lets you archive posts
When a Threads post is archived, it should be hidden from the user’s profile, with Mosseri adding that users should also be able to unarchive these posts, similar to how it works on Instagram. Meta/Facebook introduced the ability to archive and unarchive posts on Instagram back in mid-2017, so it’s been a long time coming.
We’ve seen Threads borrow inspiration from rival platform X with features like the Trending Now section. However, in this case, it would seem like X has some catching up to do as it still doesn’t let users hide their tweets from their profiles, as The Verge notes. There are some complicated methods involving the arduous process of downloading the data and deleting tweets, but the process is not as seamless as what Instagram, and now Threads, offers.
