Meta Adds Custom Feeds On Threads, Adds Transparency For GenAI Ads, And More

One of the trickiest but most important functions social media platforms must ensure is staying updated- in terms of the user interface (UI), user experience (UX), data protection, AI features, etc.

Outdated looks become boring after a while, especially when platforms add new features to their products. The key requirement in this regard is making sure users enjoy the experience, as well as look and feel of the platform—they must give the users what they want!

This becomes all the more important when they’re trying to attract more users to their platform.

This is why social media giants such as Meta, Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), and others are in the race to update their platforms and add new features, as they look to fill the potential hole that could be left in the market with the disappearance of TikTok.

Over the last year, TikTok has been in a major battle with the United States government, as the latter wants to banish the former from the country.

The U.S. feels TikTok poses national security concerns, which is why it had put an order to ban the platform from the country—one day before outgoing President Joe Biden’s last day.

However, incoming President Donald Trump rescued the social media platform from being disconnected from its 170 million users, despite being against the platform earlier. As a result, TikTok’s ban in the U.S. lasted for around 14 hours.

However, this saving grace was also temporary, as the executive order to unban it granted the social media platform 75 days to find U.S. ownership.

This led to X adding a dedicated vertical video feed and video tab, Bluesky rolling out a specialized Video tab, and Meta’s Threads introducing a Media tab for users to gain quick access to see photos and videos.

Meta’s Threads took it a step further.

Through a news release published on its website, the social media giant announced that users would be able to share custom public feeds that they've created on Threads.

“Shared feeds are a new way for you to connect with people around similar interests and find profiles and conversations that are relevant to you,” read the release, which came with instructions on how to create them.

“You’ll be able to explore public feeds under a new Feeds tab on profiles, and pin feeds you like for quick access to your favorite people and topics.”

While the feature was initially unveiled in 2024, the new updates brought to it enable easier creation, better discovery and sharing abilities.


That wasn’t all Meta announced.

Through another news release, Meta revealed that it was enhancing its advertiser guardrails, as it prioritizes transparency and responsibility throughout its products. These include labeling ads that were created or significantly edited using its GenAI creative features.

The label will appear in the three-dot menu or next to the “Sponsored” label.

These guardrails were developed after working with experts, policy stakeholders and industry partners around the world, and will apply to its product range, including Instagram.

Meta also spoke about other changes it plans to bring to its platforms in the future, to enhance user experiences.


Further, the technology giant outlined its Frontier AI Framework, which focuses on the most critical risks in cybersecurity, and risks from chemical and biological weapons.

As such, Meta will look to identify the potential misuse of frontier AI to produce such catastrophic outcomes and prevent them, run threat modeling exercises, and establish risk thresholds, among other moves.

This approach remains vital as Meta employs an open-source ecosystem, especially seeing how Meta’s Llama played an important role in the development of DeepSeek’s R1 AI model that challenged the capabilities of OpenAI’s most powerful models.

With this move, Meta has announced its commitment to continuous adaptation and evolution to refine its approach as AI technologies progress.

Do you think Meta’s updates to its Threads platform will allow the company to compete with other social media platforms? Will its AI guardrails and risk evaluation framework make a difference?

Let us know in the comments below!