Threads Users Can Now Add Up to 20 Photos and Videos Per Post: Expanding Social Media’s Visual Storytelling
Social media continues to evolve, offering users more options to share their experiences and content. Recently, Threads, Meta’s text-based platform, introduced an exciting update that allows users to upload up to 20 photos or videos in a single post. This update follows a similar change made by Instagram, which expanded its carousel posts to 20 frames last month. Let’s explore this new feature for Threads users and the broader social media landscape.
Enhanced Visual Storytelling on Threads
The ability to add up to 20 photos or videos in a single post will significantly enhance visual storytelling on Threads. Although Threads doesn’t have the same carousel functionality as Instagram—where users can swipe through photos or videos—the concept is similar. Users can now upload multiple images and videos in one update, allowing for richer, more detailed posts.
Whether you’re documenting a multi-day event, providing behind-the-scenes footage, or creating a visual narrative, the added space will give you more freedom to share your story. This change also opens up more opportunities for creative expression, making it easier to provide context and depth to your content.
For influencers, photographers, or brands, this update is crucial. You no longer need to choose between one or two key visuals. Instead, you can create a cohesive set of photos and videos that tell a fuller story or showcase multiple aspects of a single event, product, or experience.
Cross-posting from Instagram Just Got Easier
One of the primary benefits of this update is the ease of cross-posting between Instagram and Threads. Since Instagram already supports carousel posts with up to 20 photos and videos, this new feature on Threads allows users to share content across both platforms seamlessly.
Meta has made it clear that they want to keep users within their ecosystem, and by standardising features across Threads and Instagram, cross-posting is simplified. This update also means that content creators who use both platforms can repurpose their Instagram carousels for Threads, further increasing engagement and content reach.
By encouraging more cross-posting, Threads likely hopes to keep its content stream flowing and engage users who may spend more time on Instagram. This shared feature set will foster a smoother user experience, allowing people to share more content without additional effort.
What This Means for Content Creators and Brands
For content creators and brands, the ability to post up to 20 images and videos per update represents a significant opportunity. This update allows for more flexibility in promoting products, launching campaigns, or engaging in storytelling. For example, a fashion brand can now showcase an entire new collection in one Threads post. Meanwhile, a travel influencer can provide a full gallery of vacation photos or a sequence of destination videos.
This change also brings new potential for customer engagement. By giving users more room to share content, brands can offer detailed looks into their services, which will likely encourage deeper interactions with audiences. It’s a smart move from Meta, as it provides businesses and influencers with new tools to engage their followers, create richer experiences, and keep audiences invested in the content.
The Bigger Picture: SocialAI and the Future of Social Feeds
As platforms like Threads expand user options, the landscape of social media continues to shift in ways that promote even more engagement. Alongside updates like Threads’ photo/video expansion, new apps like SocialAI are starting to emerge. Created by app developer Michael Sayman, SocialAI takes a futuristic approach by allowing users to interact with millions of AI-driven profiles.
These AI bots are programmed to respond to user updates based on different personality traits, creating a unique—albeit not entirely human—social interaction experience. While the idea of AI-driven engagement may seem unusual at first, it’s part of a broader trend toward more automated social content. Sayman, who’s been a key figure in the development of apps like Instagram Stories, envisions a future where AI-generated content is a major part of social media.
As Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has hinted, AI is likely to dominate much of our social feeds soon. Apps like SocialAI, though still new, could be setting the stage for the next wave of social media evolution—where the lines between human and AI interaction blur.
YouTube’s New Feature for Editing Rule-Breaking Content
In another significant development, YouTube is rolling out a new feature that will allow creators to edit out rule-breaking elements from their videos. This change is part of YouTube’s ongoing effort to provide creators with more options for avoiding content strikes, age restrictions, or demonetization due to violations of Community Guidelines.
Previously, creators whose content violated these rules faced the challenge of either appealing the decision or having their content removed altogether. Now, with this new editing tool, creators can revise their videos directly in YouTube Studio, removing problematic portions to comply with the platform’s rules. Once edited, the video will be reviewed by YouTube’s policy team to determine if restrictions can be lifted.
For creators, this is a welcome change, as it reduces the risk of losing monetization and helps keep content active on the platform. With the added ability to adjust videos instead of taking them down completely, YouTube is giving content creators more control over their output while ensuring compliance with its policies.
X (Formerly Twitter) Is Losing Users in Key Markets
Despite Elon Musk’s frequent claims that X is hitting record highs in usage, recent data shows that the platform is losing users in major markets like the U.S. and U.K. Musk’s controversial statements—such as suggesting a “civil war is inevitable” in the U.K.—have contributed to a notable decline in daily active users. Reports indicate that X’s active U.K. users have dropped by nearly a third, from 8 million to around 5.6 million over the past year.
X’s struggles aren’t limited to the U.K. The platform has also seen a 20% decline in U.S. users over the same period, and recent EU reporting shows a 5% drop in users within the European market.
While Musk has shifted X’s classification from a “social media” app to a “news” app to bolster its ranking, this selective reporting doesn’t change the underlying trend. Despite the CEO’s claims, the data suggests that X is losing its user base, especially in regions where Musk’s divisive rhetoric has alienated portions of the audience.
