Meta’s Threads is expanding its support for the federated social network, known as the fediverse, with two major updates: a new dedicated feed for federated posts and the ability to search for users across platforms like Mastodon directly from the Threads app.
These features mark Threads’ biggest step yet toward integrating with the decentralized social web.
Starting today, users who have enabled fediverse sharing will see a new section in their Following feed that displays posts from accounts they follow on other fediverse platforms, such as Mastodon or Flipboard. This feed is kept separate from Threads’ native content and follows a reverse-chronological order without algorithmic ranking or internal moderation.
Meta software engineer Peter Cottle explained the decision to maintain a separate fediverse feed: “For everything from integrity to user impersonation, just for user understanding, it’s nice to have it as kind of a separate thing.” The goal is to offer a more RSS-style experience, letting users catch up on external content without mixing it with Threads’ algorithm-driven feeds.
Additionally, Threads now allows users to search for fediverse users from within its search bar, solving one of Mastodon’s long-standing usability challenges. By following those users, their posts will also appear in the new dedicated feed inside Threads.
While these are significant steps forward, Threads still doesn’t treat fediverse content as fully native. Users must opt in, maintain separate accounts, and visit a dedicated feed to view federated content and replies. Still, Meta says it remains committed to building bridges between Threads and the wider fediverse ecosystem.
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