On the morning after Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Threads, Meta's young rival to X, showed a trends list where three of the top five entries were about the speech itself, the Republican response, and a heckling moment involving Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. The moment lands awkwardly for a company that has spent years trying to step back from political conversation, after learning how easily its platforms could be accused of tilting one way or another. Here a newly tested feature revealed what people bring to an open, real-time space when they are given one, and the questio
Despite Meta's Retreat From Politics, Threads' Trends Are Dominated by Biden's State of the Union
Give people a real-time platform and they will talk about the news of the day.
Mark
Why is it notable that the State of the Union led Threads' trends?
Mimi
Because Meta has said it doesn't want to push politics. Instagram announced it would stop proactively recommending political content on Instagram and Threads, yet the trends list is full of it.
Mark
So users are doing what the company is trying to avoid?
Mimi
Roughly. Three of the top five trends were about the speech, the Republican response and the heckling from Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Luke
Careful, though. That's a snapshot from the time of writing. We don't know how long it held or how the trends are ranked.
Mark
Is the feature even fully launched?
Mimi
Users report it's widely available on web and mobile, but Instagram says it's still a test in the U.S.
Luke
And that gap matters. The reporting relies on user accounts of the rollout, with Instagram's statement only confirming a test is ongoing.
Mark
Does this mean Meta is making an exception on purpose?
Luke
Nothing in the piece says so. It's an observation that politics isn't suppressed in trends yet. Intent is unknown.
Mimi
The reporter's closing point is to watch whether political topics get swapped out for apolitical ones.
Mark
And the creators who were upset about the recommendation change?
Mimi
They're a reminder that some users came to Threads precisely for that Twitter-like conversation.
Le Pouls
- Three of the top five Threads trends reacted to Biden's State of the Union, setting off a visible clash with Meta's stated retreat from politics.
- The Trends feature, a Twitter-like tool, has spread from a small U.S. test to a far wider base across web and mobile.
- Instagram calls the feature still in testing and confirmed the U.S. test is ongoing, leaving its final form unsettled.
- Creators and users angry over the recent halt on proactive political recommendations now watch whether trends will be pared back.
- The outcome is unresolved: political topics may be swapped for apolitical ones, or they may remain as the feature moves out of testing.
On the morning after Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Threads, Meta's young rival to X, showed a trends list where three of the top five entries were about the speech itself, the Republican response, and a heckling moment involving Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. The moment lands awkwardly for a company that has spent years trying to step back from political conversation, after learning how easily its platforms could be accused of tilting one way or another. Here a newly tested feature revealed what people bring to an open, real-time space when they are given one, and the question now is whether Meta will let that reflection stand.
On the morning after President Biden's State of the Union address, three of the five top trends on Threads were about the speech. People searched for reactions to the address, for the Republican response, and for the heckling from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. It was a striking picture, and it sat uneasily with the way Meta has been presenting its products for several years.
Threads is Meta's newest app, built as a rival to Twitter, now called X. The Trends feature that produced this list began as a small test with U.S. users last month. Users report that it has since reached a much larger share of the base on desktop and mobile. Instagram, which oversees Threads, says the feature is still in testing and confirmed on March 8 that the U.S. test continues.
The explanation is simple. Give people a fast platform for short reactions and they will talk about whatever the news is. Biden's speech touched issues that divide the public, including abortion, guns, taxes, the border, and crime, so there was plenty to argue about.
Meta has long tried to move away from politics after criticism that its platforms favored one side. It changed Facebook's Feed to favor friends and family over news, and it has disclosed Russian-linked disinformation campaigns aimed at U.S. elections. Most recently, as another election season approached, Instagram announced it would no longer proactively recommend political content on Instagram or Threads. Many users were unhappy, especially those who came to Threads for a Twitter-like experience, and creators who write about law, elections, and social issues were frustrated.
Trends is, for now, an exception. Politics is not suppressed there, and the State of the Union results show what users do when the space is open. What comes next remains open. Because the feature is still a test, its final shape, and whether it will follow the same restraint as the rest of Threads, has not been decided.
On the morning after President Biden's State of the Union address, three of the five top search trends on Threads were about the speech. People were searching for reactions to the address itself, for the Republican response, and for the heckling from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. That was the picture at the time TechCrunch wrote its report, and it sits awkwardly with how Meta has spent the past several years positioning its products.
Threads is Meta's newest app, a would-be rival to Twitter, now called X. The trends feature that produced this list is a Twitter-like tool that Threads began testing last month with a small group of U.S. users. According to user reports, it has since spread to a much broader share of the user base, on both desktop web and mobile. Instagram, which oversees Threads, described the feature as still in testing, and in a statement added to the story on March 8 confirmed that the test is ongoing in the U.S.
The pattern is easy to explain. Give people a real-time platform where they can dash off quick reactions as short text posts, and they will tend to talk about whatever the news of the day happens to be. Thursday's address gave them plenty to work with. Biden leaned into issues that divide the public and invite argument, among them abortion rights, gun control, taxes, the border and crime.
Meta, though, has been trying to get away from politics for years, after criticism that its platforms favored one side or the other. In 2016, the company changed Facebook's Feed to put posts from family and friends ahead of news. In 2022, it dropped the name News Feed and rebranded it simply as Feed. The company has also acknowledged finding multiple Russian-linked disinformation campaigns aimed at influencing U.S. elections.
The most recent step came as another U.S. election season approaches. Instagram announced that it would no longer proactively recommend political content on either Instagram or Threads. The decision upset many users, particularly those who came to Threads for a Twitter-like experience after Elon Musk took over the platform now known as X. Creators who post about laws and legislation, elections, and other political and social issues were unhappy with the change.
The trends feature is, for now, an exception. Politics is not being suppressed there, and the State of the Union dominance shows what users bring to the space when it is open to them.
What happens next is the open question. TechCrunch said it intends to watch how long political topics are allowed to stay in the trends section before they are swapped out for something apolitical. Because the feature is still officially a test, its final shape, and whether it follows the same restraint as the rest of Threads, has yet to be settled.
Citations marquantes
The trends feature is still in testing, and the test is ongoing in the U.S.— Instagram statement, as reported by TechCrunch
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