Meta has never published a detailed breakdown of how Threads ranks posts. What it published instead, in February 2026, is stranger and more useful: a button that lets you tell the algorithm what to show you, in a sentence.
"Dear Algo" and "Your Algo" are the real 2026 story
On February 11, 2026, Threads launched "Dear Algo," a public post format ("Dear Algo, show me more posts about ceramics") that adjusts your feed for three days. Anyone can see and repost your request. By June 2026, Threads added "Your Algo," a private version, adjustable for 1, 3, or 7 days.
Meta's framing: "Threads is where you go to keep up with what's happening right now... sometimes what matters to you changes in an instant." You don't build that for a feed that just shows your follows in order. The fact that both exist is strong evidence that much of Threads is algorithmic, not just followed.
Threads is growing fast enough to matter
- 500 million monthly active users in June 2026, up from 400 million ten months earlier.
- Reportedly passed X in daily mobile users in January: 141.5 million to 125 million, per third-party estimates (not an official Meta figure).
- Communities Hub exited beta alongside a new Discovery Hub, which Threads head Connor Hayes described as a way to get "communities in front of more people."
What's confirmed versus what's inherited from Instagram
Trade coverage recycles Instagram-era Mosseri quotes as if they described Threads ranking directly. Threads' 2025–2026 statements come from Connor Hayes, not Mosseri, and Meta still hasn't published a follows-versus-recommendations weighting. Treat "Threads works exactly like TikTok, not old Instagram" as a reasonable inference from the product's mechanics, not a confirmed statement.
What to actually do with a feed you can talk to
- If your audience is already active on Threads, a well-timed "Dear Algo" post from a follower asking for more of your kind of content can move more than a content tweak. It's a public, repostable signal other users can pile onto.
- Don't assume hashtags or follower count carry the same weight they do on Instagram. Threads' whole 2025–2026 product investment (Dear Algo, Discovery Hub, Communities) builds feed control that doesn't run on hashtags.
- Post like the platform is growing, because it is. A 500-million-user platform that added 100 million users in ten months isn't a side project anymore: it's worth writing for natively, not just cross-posting your X drafts unchanged.
- If you're already drafting for X, reshape rather than reuse. Postey turns one draft into a version tailored per platform, so the Threads post reads like it was written for Threads' conversational register, not pasted in.
Letting users talk to the algorithm instead of publishing how it works is more novel than anything in the ranking-weight speculation. It's also the part most "Threads algorithm 2026" content misses, simply because it's newer. Build your Threads presence around that, and write like the feed can hear you.
