Threads is testing friends-only sharing for groups of up to 50 people.
Threads is testing smaller-group sharing in Ireland, Italy and Japan, with customisable lists of up to 50 friends.
Meta is testing Threads Friends in Ireland, Italy and Japan, allowing users to share posts with smaller groups. The feature limits each audience to a chosen list of up to 50 people.
Rather than making a post visible to everyone on the platform, users can select their friends list. The feature works much like a close-friends option, and the app also calls these contacts “Thriends”.
People outside the three test countries can also view friends-only posts if a participating user adds them to a list. That allows selected contacts elsewhere to receive posts from users taking part in the trial.
How Threads Friends lists work
To help users get started, the app automatically suggests followers they frequently interact with, a Meta spokesperson said. However, users can customise the list rather than relying solely on those suggestions.
Once users set up their list, they can tap a green bubble at the top of their feed. This shows friends’ posts shared within the previous 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Threads product design director Laura Javier previewed the appearance of a friends-only post. She also demonstrated a hidden option that changes the feature’s name from “Threads Friends” to “Thriends”.
The test follows a similar approach to Twitter’s Circles feature, which launched in 2022. However, Circles allowed groups of up to 150 people, compared with Threads’ limit of 50. Twitter discontinued that feature about a year later.
