“How does the Threads algorithm work?”
How does the Threads algorithm work?
Short answer
Threads ranks the For You feed with an AI system and shows the Following feed in reverse chronological order, per Meta's explainer as summarized by Buffer in January 2026. Meta has not published how much each signal counts. Its advice to creators: post original content, include text, reply to people and use topic tags. Dear Algo, announced February 11, 2026, steers your feed for three days at a time.
Two feeds, one ranked
Threads has two feeds and they work differently. For You is ranked by an AI system that decides which posts to show you. Following is reverse chronological: the newest posts from accounts you follow, in order.
That description comes from Meta's own explanation of the feed, which Buffer summarized in its January 26, 2026 article on the Threads algorithm. Meta's Transparency Center page moved and would not open when we checked, so treat the summary as secondhand and dated.
What feeds mean for a poster: the people who follow you always get your posts in Following. For You is where new readers come from, and nobody outside Meta knows its weights.
What Meta tells creators
Meta's Threads for creators page gives advice with its own numbers attached, from an internal analysis of global creators over 30 days in the first half of 2024. Post at least two to five times a week. Always include text. Post original content. Replies account for almost half of views. Topic tags help reach.
Read those as direction, not formula. Meta published the guidance but not the model behind it, and the analysis is dated inside the page itself.
The practical version: write your own posts rather than reposting, put words on every post including image posts, answer people who reply to you, and tag the topic when a post genuinely belongs to one. See Threads topic tags for the rules of the tag itself.
Dear Algo, explained
On February 11, 2026, Meta announced Dear Algo, describing it as an AI-powered feature that lets you tell Threads what topics you temporarily want to see more or less of. You start a public post with the words Dear Algo, write what you want, and it steers your feed for three days. At launch it was live in the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Two things it is not. It is not a creator tool: it changes your own feed, not other people's. And it is not published API surface; nothing you post with Dear Algo reaches the API differently.
What Meta has not published
No public Meta document states how much each ranking signal counts, how the first hour after posting is treated, whether links, edits or scheduled posting change reach, or how the two feeds interact. Pages that give percentages or first-hour rules are estimating, and most do not say so.
We state the gaps on purpose. Where this site has no source, the honest answer is that nobody outside Meta knows, and any page claiming otherwise should show you where Meta said it.
What to do with all that
Turn the published advice into a routine: post steadily in one voice, put the point in the first lines, reply to the people who reply to you, and check what worked. The routine is written out in how to grow on Threads, and the pacing question, including Meta's two to five posts a week, is in how often to post on Threads.
Threadgehog drafts the posts; the ranking is Meta's. You can read your own numbers, either in Threads insights or through a connected scheduler, and write more of what earned replies.
Questions
Is the Threads feed chronological?
Following is reverse chronological. For You is ranked by an AI system, and it is the default view for many readers.
Does Threads have an algorithm?
Yes. Meta describes an AI ranking system for the For You feed. It has not published the signals' weights.
What does Dear Algo do?
You start a public post with the words Dear Algo and tell Threads what you want to see more or less of. It steers your feed for three days. It was announced February 11, 2026 and launched in the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
Do replies help reach?
Meta's creator page says replies account for almost half of views on Threads, from an internal analysis of global creators in the first half of 2024. Answering people who reply to you is the most sourced growth habit there is.
Does Instagram activity affect Threads?
We found no Meta statement that Instagram activity changes how far your Threads posts reach. Threads profiles are set up through Instagram, but that is account plumbing, not a ranking claim.
How often should I post on Threads?
Meta's creator page says at least two to five times a week, and its analysis linked higher frequency to higher views per post. Pick a pace you can keep.
Do links hurt reach on Threads?
Meta has published no link rule. In November 2024, Adam Mosseri was reported to say Threads does not punish links. The full answer, with the test to run, is on our links and reach page.
Does Threads favor text posts?
Meta's advice is to always include text, including on image posts. It does not say text-only posts are ranked above posts with media.
Sources
- Meta: Threads for creators (checked 2026-10-18)
- Meta newsroom: Dear Algo (February 11, 2026) (checked 2026-10-18)
- Buffer: How the Threads algorithm works (checked 2026-10-18)