Threads can now show when people are online and us...

Threads is sometimes criticized for not prioritizing real-time content in its recommendations. Now, Meta is adding status indicators that can show when a particular user is online in an apparent effort to address that need.

The optional feature, called “activity status,” will display a green bubble alongside someone’s profile photo when they’re online. The indicator is meant to help users find “others to engage with in real-time,” according to from Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. “We hope that knowing when your people are online makes it easier to have conversations.”

It’s an interesting choice for a platform that still doesn’t have direct messaging capabilities. Such indicators are more common in chat apps like Discord (Instagram, which does have robust DM capabilities, also has a similar feature). But Meta has said repeatedly it doesn’t want to bring in-app messaging to Threads, with the app’s head of product Business Insider there are no plans to add DMs to the app.

The feature also doesn’t exactly address many users’ desire for a feed that’s more oriented to real-time information and conversations. Instead, Meta is offering the status indicators as a way to seek out users who are currently active on the service as a way of encouraging conversations that are more likely to get timely replies. But without a clear way of finding people who have that green bubble alongside their profile photo, it’s unclear how easy this will actually be.