Meta's "Dear Algo" Finally Lets You Tune Your Threads Feed

Threads users have been asking to change their feed interests for months, but it's been like yelling at a wall. This week, Meta basically said fine, let’s make it real. The company announced an AI-powered control, Dear Algo, that lets you nudge what shows up in Threads using a public post that works like a note to the algorithm.

Meta isn’t the first to do it. Bluesky built its identity around custom feeds, and X has been teasing more direct control through Grok. Instead of letting that stay a competitor’s wedge, Meta made it native. You post "Dear Algo" and spell out what you want more of or less of. The system adjusts your feed based on that request, but only for three days. After that, it fades unless you repeat it.

That short window isn’t random. It helps avoid the "Netflix problem," where you tell the system you want serious stuff and then by Friday you just want memes. But the public-only requirement is the double-edged sword. To tune your feed, you have to post about your preferences. Posting "Dear Algo, show me less alcohol" might work, but it can also broadcast your personal business to your boss, your ex, and anyone else watching.

Also if you repost someone else’s "Dear Algo," their preference applies to your feed too. That’s basically shareable algorithms, but it also turns tuning into a kind of SEO. People won’t just share posts, they’ll share the "perfect phrasing" to unlock a specific side of Threads, and you’ll see viral copy-pasta that’s less of jokes and more of utility.

The big unanswered question is money. Does “Dear Algo” change what you see in ads, or only the organic feed. If you ask for “luxury watches,” do you just get more watch posts while the ad layer keeps doing its own thing. If this signal doesn’t pierce the ad server, it’s still useful, but it’s a half-measure, and the real control stays with the monetization layer.