Meta’s Threads App Now Supports Native GIFs and Polls: Mark Zuckerberg Announces Updates

Threads, a platform under the Meta umbrella, has introduced built-in options for posting GIFs and polls. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, announced these updates on Thursday and also engaged with users by using GIFs and polls in his responses to queries about when these features would be added. While the updates have begun rolling out for the Threads app and web version, it appears that polls are taking a bit longer to become available on the web.

Before these updates, users could post GIFs through workarounds like third-party keyboards or by copying and pasting them from other sources, often yielding mixed results. However, there was no native button within the app for this purpose. Now, users will find a GIF button in the post creation window next to the image gallery button. This button will provide access to a searchable GIPHY library from which users can select GIFs.

For polls, users can add up to four choices for others to vote on and have control over who can or cannot respond. Polls remain open for 24 hours after they are posted, and only those who have participated in the poll can view the results as they come in. The poll button will appear in the post creation toolbar as three horizontal lines.

GIFs and polls have been long-standing features on platforms like Twitter, where they have been available for years. Users who have turned to Threads as an alternative have been requesting these features since the platform’s inception. Instagram introduced GIF replies earlier this year and added polls just last week, making the inclusion of these features on Threads a natural next step.

Threads has been incrementally enhancing the user experience as it establishes itself, and it appears to be gaining momentum. Zuckerberg recently stated that the platform now boasts nearly 100 million monthly active users.