Threads is adding polls and GIFs as it continues to chase X

Meta will let you take polls and insert GIFs directly from the author of Threads posts, the company announced Thursday. Later in the day, Instagram president Adam Mosseri revealed that the company is testing view counts on topic posts and pinned posts on profiles and in your replies.

Zuckerberg’s poll has three options (you can include up to four) and a timer that counts down how long users have to vote in the poll in real time, which is a nice touch. To be able to see the results of a poll, you must vote in it. If you vote, Threads will send you a notification when the poll ends.

To share GIFs more easily, you’ll be able to select a new GIF icon to search for GIFs from Giphy. The picker will display popular GIFs, or you can use the search bar to track down a specific GIF.

the new Subject tests They’re also features you might be familiar with from X. X launched a number of Views to all users in December, and Mosseri seems to like the concept. “The view count is interesting because I think if we were supercharging Instagram or Facebook today, we probably would have gotten it.” He wrote on Thursday. “It gives people a better sense of their reach, and in general more feedback is a good thing.”

Pinned posts are a staple of X Profiles, but Threads innovates the idea by letting you pin a reply to a post. The view count and pin tests are “now live for a small number of people,” Mosseri says.

Updated October 26, 7:06 PM ET: Added details about tests for new topics.