Threads Adds Fediverse Feed and Profile Search to Make Discovering External Posts Easier

Highlights

• Threads’ new fediverse features now allow users to see a reverse-chronological feed of posts from federated accounts like Mastodon, WordPress, and Flipboard.
• Searching for external users by handle (@username@mastodon.social) is now possible with a fediverse badge to identify non-Threads profiles.
• The updates make following and interacting with cross-platform accounts easier.

Caption – Two new fediverse features have been added on Threads. (Image credit – Meta)

Threads is finally making it easier to discover and follow content from other platforms in the fediverse. The app now has two major updates, which include a dedicated fediverse feed and the ability to search for external profiles by handle.

So, if you’ve turned on fediverse sharing in Threads, you’ll see a new reverse-chronological feed from now onwards. This feed shows posts from federated accounts you follow on services like Mastodon, WordPress, Flipboard and other ActivityPub-powered platforms.

Caption – Threads Fediverse Feed Carousel. (Image credit – Meta)

Threads is also making it simpler to find people posting from outside the app. You can now search for users by their handle such as @username@mastodon.social directly in the Threads search bar. These accounts will have a fediverse badge so you can easily identify that they’re not native to Threads.

Caption – Searching for a federated user just got easier on Threads. (Image credit – Meta)

As The Verge explains, “When you set up fediverse sharing, Threads automatically connects to whatever accounts you’ve followed, but you can also now search for users on Mastodon and elsewhere from the Threads search bar. If you follow them, you’ll start to see their posts in Threads too.”

Before this update, following a Mastodon user through Threads was tricky. As Mark Zuckerberg put it last December, you could only follow people from other servers if they had liked, followed, or replied to federated profiles on Threads.

Now, with the new fediverse feed, you’ll see posts from these external accounts in a new section at the top of your Following tab. Like your regular feed, posts appear in reverse chronological order.

This new feed is intentionally separate from your main Following and For You feeds. Threads engineer Peter Cottle told The Verge that this helps reduce confusion around content moderation, user identity, and expectations.

Overall, these updates mark a big step forward in Threads’ efforts to be more fediverse-friendly, helping users stay connected across platforms in a more seamless way.

FAQs

Q1. What is the new fediverse feed in Threads?

Answer. Threads now includes a reverse-chronological feed that displays posts from federated accounts on platforms like Mastodon, WordPress, and Flipboard, making cross-platform content easier to follow.

Q2. How can users find and follow federated profiles in Threads?

Answer. Users can now search for external accounts by handle (e.g., @username@mastodon.social) directly in the Threads search bar. These accounts will have a fediverse badge to indicate they are not native to Threads.

Q3. Why is the fediverse feed separate from the main Threads feed?

Answer. Threads engineer Peter Cottle explained that keeping the fediverse feed separate helps reduce confusion around content moderation, user identity, and expectations when interacting with external posts.