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Threads Tags: Add Topics to Your Posts
Despite skepticism, I think it’s now obvious that Threads has established itself as a top social media platform. Whereas it may not be able to compare to decade-old networks like Facebook and X, it’s slowly making its way up the ranks. One of its newest implementations has been Threads topic tags, allowing users to tag trending topics and spark new conversations.
While the network develops and creates new features, they have started 2024 strong. Threads will also hopefully expand its API soon, allowing third-party tools and developers more access to the platform in terms of data collection, scheduling, and management.
How Threads Topic Tags Work
So, what are Threads topic tags and how do they work? It’s simple and similar to X’s trending section on the search page. Users can add a topic to their post, limited to one tag per post. This tag is then a clickable link to a page that shows all posts with that tag.
Post by @mosseriView on Threads
As a brand or business, this is also a great way for your audience to better find your content, and become more visible on the network. These are similar to hashtags, with a few peculiarities which are:
- You can only add one tag per post.
- When creating a thread, you have to manually add the tag and cannot copy and paste text/a tag.
- Topic tags can be multiple words with spaces in between, so it’s not clustered in one word like with hashtags.
After adding a tag, your post will then be added to that topic’s search results, which can also boost your post. However, note that this feed isn’t organized chronologically. Adam Mosseri explained in a Threads post the reasoning behind this saying,
“To clarify, having a comprehensive list of *every* post with a specific word in chronological order inevitably means spammers and other bad actors pummel the view with content by simply adding the relevant words or tags.”
Adam Mosseri – Head of Instagram
This isn’t the first time Mosseri has expressed concern about opening up new features and capabilities, to help protect and safeguard an influx of bots and spam, so creators and businesses can focus on having authentic conversations with their audience.
As we have seen what happens when hashtags and tags are free reign, like on Twitter, spammers take advantage of this and flood feeds to have their content appear. While the limitations avoid this issue, they may not be as powerful.
When comparing Twitter’s search engine with Threads, X’s search power is extremely complex and tailored towards each user’s preferences. Something that Threads has started, and will continue to grow.
How to Add Topic Tags to Threads
Now let’s see how you can add tags to your posts, and how topic tags appear on the platform. You can view and add tags on both desktop and mobile versions. To add a tag, first, log in to the app and click on the pencil and pen icon at the bottom menu to create a new post.
Add the text to your post, and any images or videos. Then, click on the hashtag button that appears next to the audio icon. Start typing in your topic tag, and the network will populate related keywords and tags. Simply press on the topic you want to tag, and it will appear blue in your post.
Once your post is published, you can click on the tag to see your post and other user’s posts with that same tag.
Does Threads have hashtags?
A question that is now arising is, can you use normal hashtags on Threads? And how are these different from topic tags? The fact is, the tags act as hashtags, so there are no normal hashtags on Threads. This makes sense, especially since Threads is doing everything possible to limit excessive hashtags in posts.
While Threads continues to mature its product, we are here on the other side to report. Every Sunday, we bring you the top social media news of the week in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an update. 💌