I could give so many other examples of disempowerment at Threads, but nothing makes me feel less in control of my experience than my timeline. It’s not really my timeline—it, too, belongs to Emperor Z. It took Facebook many years to figure out how to limit my control over my information feed. In the early days, I connected with family and friends and got access to everything they shared, starting with the most recent post. That’s what users want. But over time, Facebook learned that it was more profitable if corporate HQ controlled my timeline, not me. And they found all sorts of ways to do this. Threads is starting out with the benefit of all that learning. So don’t expect that you will follow somebody on Threads, and get a chronological feed of what they post. Instead you find that:
- The Emperor (and his large Imperial Guard) decide how much timeline control is given to algorithms, instead of you. They won’t tell you how they make this decision, but I think it’s safe to say the algorithm has the upper hand.
- The Empire decides if you see advertisements, and when, and how often.
- The Empire decides if you get to see what a friend is posting.
- And, of course, the Empire decides what is allowed, what is prohibited, what is prioritized, and what is trending.
Confirmed that I have zero interest in Threads.