Threads begins testing a TweetDeck-style real-time post feed

Meta is starting testing a TweetDeck-like experience for Threads today. It will allow Threads users to create customizable feeds stacked in a columnar interface on the web, just like TweetDeck did before it became a paid service and rebranded as X Pro last year.

“If you participate in the test, you can choose to keep things simple with a single feed or add separate columns for your favorite searches, tags, accounts, saved posts and notifications,” says Meta spokesperson Seine Kim, in a statement to The edge. “You can choose to automatically update specific columns in real time.”

Meta will select Threads users to test this new experience in the web version of Threads, and a screenshot shows that it is very similar to TweetDeck. You can choose whether a column is automatically updated with the latest posts and pin columns filled with search results or posts from a single user profile.

This new interface is likely a response to common complaints from Threads power users about being forced into the algorithm-powered For You feed every time you visit Threads on the web. Threads has a real-time tracking feed, but you need to bookmark or change the following URL every time you load Threads on the web. The same thing happens on mobile apps, as Meta has hidden the next feed under a click on the main Threads logo.

TweetDeck was a popular third-party application for accessing Twitter before the company acquired it in 2011. Features such as support for multiple accounts and customizable feeds have made it a popular tool for power users, journalists and marketers who used Twitter daily. You now have to pay for an X Premium account ($8 per month) if you want access to the rebranded X Pro.

Alongside this new TweetDeck-like UI on Threads, Meta is also launching a recent timeline tab for searches on the service. “Search results here are still rated in terms of quality, but now you can see them in chronological order,” says Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram.