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After the fall of X, internet discourse spread across the … internet.
But every newfangled site that’s cropped up is struggling with the same problem.
Engagement.
What was once a centralized hub of conversation (with all the requisite problems that stem from shoving the bulk of humanity into one single algorithmic timeline) led to fractured nodes, none of which can replace the sheer endorphin rush of going viral back in the day.
That’s probably for the better, everyone shouldn’t be able to see everything all in one spot, but dang, where are my stans?
Luckily, a new trend on Threads is practically guaranteed to get your comments section bumping by … quite literally, telling all your followers where to find the comments section in Threads.
Below posts on Threads are the standard buttons you used to see on Twitter, which makes sense, because Threads was ripped pretty much directly from the site, as users looked for similar but different post-Elon Musk alternatives.
It’s got a heart to click for likes, a speech bubble to click for comments, a circle made of arrows for reposts, and a share button.
Clicking the comments button takes you to a pop up to comment on the post. But what if you want to see comments on the post?
You might think that given Threads launched two years ago, users would know how to do this.
But it seems everyone figured it out this week.
Or, they’re all engagement farming.
“FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO READ COMMENTS ON THREADS. TAP THE BLANK SPACE BY THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HEART” read a post with 1,000 likes.
“I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO READ COMMENTS ON THREADS. Tap the blank space on the left side of the heart. 😭😂” read another with 500 likes.
Posts making the same word-for-word claims racked up 1,000, 6,800, 2,900, 2,600, and 3,000 likes, just to pick a few samples.
It is true that tapping the blank space on the left automatically loads comments, which does seem to have solved a real problem that some people talked about in the comments of the identical posts.
“CRAZY! The whole time I was thinking so I’m not allowed to look at other people comments.”
“I stopped looking at Threads bc I couldn’t read the comments.”
“How did you know we all were struggling with this?”
Some called out what they considered a design flaw.
“How the f would anyone know to click on a blank space???
Of course, it’s not nearly as confounding as people are making it seem. Much like on… X, simply clicking on any post will also take you to replies. It’s a “problem” that a vast number of users haven’t seemed to struggle with given that prior to this week, plenty of Threads posts had plenty of replies.
But it also shows that Threads suffers from the same spam and engagement farming people thought they were leaving behind.
The same comment has been shared hundreds of times in just the past two days alone and every time it racks up hundreds and hundreds of likes.
This also illustrates just how siloed interactions on the site are, because it seems every time someone sees it, despite it being everywhere now, they are amazed and surprised no one else is talking about it.
“And in one post my life changed 😂 I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only technologically challenged one who needed this post today! Not sure why this isn’t viral on here..I bet there are millions of us.”
Well, 999,999 after that one, at least.
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