Threads (a social networking platform belonging to Meta) has just announced a new feature called "Live Chats", to enhance real-time interaction between users, especially in cultural, sports or entertainment events.
According to Meta, Live Chats allows users to participate in conversations taking place right during the event, from sports matches to award ceremonies or product launches.
This is considered a step to help Threads become more timely and appropriate, after a period of being assessed as lacking relevance compared to its competitors.
In the early stages, the feature will be deployed in the NBA community (along with interest in the NBA basketball league) on Threads, coinciding with the Playoff round taking place.
Some media figures such as Malika Andrews, Rachel Nichols and Da Kid Gowie will host live chat rooms, leading discussions with fans.
In terms of operation, Live Chats allows users to send messages, images, videos, links and emoticons in real time.
A maximum of 150 people can participate in conversations at the same time. When this limit is reached, other users can still follow, interact and participate in surveys in "viewer" mode.
Meta said that this feature was initially only open to a small group of content creators, then will gradually expand to all users.
Users can access Live Chats from the Community page, through posts on the news feed or by clicking on the red circle icon on the avatar of the host.
Previously, Threads was disadvantaged compared to X due to the lack of real-time news tracking tools such as hashtags, strong searches or timelines.
X has long been considered a global public forum, where users update hot news and comment directly on events.
Over the past time, Threads has gradually added missing features, and Live Chats is the latest effort to narrow the gap.
Notably, Meta believes that this feature even brings a different experience than X, when it is designed specifically for conversations surrounding the ongoing event, instead of just displaying individual posts.
The Live Chats system is integrated with an automatic censorship mechanism, capable of detecting and deleting infringing content.
Participants can also report messages, while the host has control, including downgrading users or removing them from the conversation.
In the future, Meta plans to add features such as co-hosting, real-time updates, lock screen utilities and the ability to share chat content on the news feed.
With Live Chats, Threads is gradually reshaping its role as a real-time community connection platform, expanding from content sharing social networks to live discussion spaces where users can experience events together as they take place.
