Threads adds tools to help podcasters promote shows, reach listeners

Meta announced Wednesday that Threads, its X rival, is rolling out new tools that let podcast creators promote their shows, grow their audiences, and engage existing listeners directly on the platform. The move comes as X has more recently been encouraging its own creators to post videos — especially podcasts — directly on that platform to earn revenue and boost engagement. Threads isn’t looking to host podcasts itself, but wants to become a hub for posting and discussion around them.

To start, Threads will display a podcast profile card and banner on a creator’s profile and in their posts, and episode links posted by creators will appear as tappable cards that let users listen directly. Podcast hosts can also post transcripts for listeners to follow along with an episode, and tag featured guests, which surfaces a related card. Users can save any of these posts to listen later.

Threads will also be able to send creators reminders to post when a new episode drops, which could help boost engagement with listeners, and is rolling out audience-insight tools showing metrics like views over time, broken down by followers, non-followers, and all viewers.

Last year, Threads introduced tools to spur more podcast discussion, including better link cards and the ability to link a profile to a podcast. The platform is now closing in on X in terms of users, after Meta’s social network reached 500 million active users in June.

Why it matters

The rollout puts Threads in a more direct race with X and Spotify for podcast-adjacent social discovery, using audience data and engagement tools to pull podcast conversations onto Meta’s platform as it closes in on X’s user base.