What is a thread in messenger?

Threaded messaging displays both sides of a text messaging (SMS) conversation on one screen, in chronological order. In this way it also groups messages from the same person together.

For example, if you sent a message to your friend Bob, then he replied, then you replied back, all of those messages would appear in that order on one screen.

Threaded messaging became standard around the time smartphones became popular.

The alternative to threaded messaging is to have all messages you have sent appear in a completely separate "Sent" folder. Also, messages from various people are all mixed together in one Inbox, instead of being grouped by person as with threaded messaging.

A running commentary of text messages pertaining to one topic or question. Message threads are used in all forms of user discussions on the Internet, including Usenet newsgroups, Web-based forums, blogs, chat rooms, groupware and email.

The "thread" refers to the collection of messages organized by the software. The messages are displayed in "flat" chronological order by date of posting or in "question-answer" order. The latter is a thread of one question followed by all answers in a hierarchy. Subthreads may also be supported, which enables comments in one of the replies to start another thread that remains linked to the original. See Internet forum and newsgroup.

Facebook Messenger is adding support for what it calls “message replies.” Essentially, this feature allows for threaded messages, giving you the ability to reply specifically to one message without cluttering up the full message thread.

To access the new message replies feature, you simply long-press on a message and tap the new reply icon. From there, your response will be sent and directly attached to the original message. You can respond with text, GIFs, videos, images, and emoji. The update was first noted by VentureBeat.

Just how useful this feature is remains to be seen, but it could certainly help in group messages where it’s easy for communication to become cluttered. Ideally, this message replies feature will make it easier for everyone to tell what you’re responding to. In terms of design, it looks a lot like a “quote tweet” on Twitter.

Facebook is putting an increased focus on its messaging platforms, with the eventual goal of merging threads from WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Earlier this year, Facebook updated the Messenger design with a focus on de-cluttering the interface. Just a few weeks ago, Facebook also started testing a Dark Mode interface in Messenger.

The new feature is rolling out today. Facebook Messenger is available on the App Store for free.

Related stories: 

• Facebook Messenger on iOS testing hidden Dark Mode interface, here’s how to enable it
• Updated Facebook Messenger app with redesign rolling out to most users
• Report explores how Facebook’s focus on messaging puts it in direct competition with Apple
• Facebook reportedly plans to merge WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger chats

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In August 2011, Facebook realised the power of messaging on its platform, and decided to introduce a stand-alone Messenger app for both iOS and Android devices. Messenger group conversations became a thing, enabling anyone to invite or be invited to a friend’s group on a mobile platform.

It’s really difficult to keep up with the timeline-based linear nature of a large or very active group chat.

Most of the times you have to interrupt the current conversation flow in order to reply to a previous message, pivoting the conversation back to a previous context.

The most common reasons for this, amongst others, are fast message flows and delayed responses. Users can’t be checking in on group chats all day long.

Integrating threads in order to help users respond to previous messages without breaking the current conversation flow by using existing Messenger components and interactions.

Although this problem could be tackled with a variety of approaches, and since apps like Telegram, Slack and recently Whatsapp have already implemented chat threads,

for the purpose of this concept, I will set some constraints and try to directly apply threads as a solution in order for this story to be compact.

In order to provide an effective solution, we must first understand:

1. How are users currently addressing this problem?
2. How do users generally interact with group messages?

1. Current ways of replying

In order for you to reply to something you missed on a group chat, you have to choose one of the following ways:

Replying out of context

Pros:

• Whether you interrupt or not, the job gets done. Sometimes that’s not a problem because the topic is not something serious

Cons:

• The recipient does not get notified about your particular reply
• This pattern causes the aforementioned problem of breaking the chat conversation context

Use Reactions

Pros:

• They are instant and faster than writing. Sometimes a simple reaction to someone’s answer is enough
• Recipient gets notified

Cons:

• Reactions do not help further engagement due to their curt nature.

Use the mentions

Pros:

• They are really fast
• You can mention multiple people at a time
• They are highly engaging — Recipient gets notified

Cons:

• Your message still interrupts the conversation flow

Direct message

Pros:

• Direct messages are highly engaging — Recipient gets your answer message directly to their inbox
• You can be sure your friend will see/read your message

Cons:

• The group conversation moves into a personal environment. This means that other group members will miss that part of your conversation

2. Currently used gestures

In order to introduce a threaded conversation CTA, all the interactions that exist between a message bubble component and a user must first be analysed.

Long press

Long press to react, copy, delete and forward.

Tap

Just tap the chat bubble to reveal “time sent” and “seen by”.

Tap on the mention to interact with a specific user.

Tap on a reaction to see who reacted to that particular message.

Since I’m going to use already existing Facebook components, interactions, etc., I decided to move directly to hi-fi wireframes. This way, I can quickly get more life-like qualities from the design, while still keeping focus on function.

Choosing the right gesture

In order to implement this feature, we must explore the CTA position and the gesture that reveals/triggers it.

Currently there are two types of gestures to interact with a message: tap and long press. Swipes are not in use yet, but I will explore their suitability.

Tap

Since tap is used to display further information about the time the message was sent and who saw it, investigating it is a moot point. We don’t want to disrupt current flows, only enhance them. Implementing a thread CTA here means we must rethink all of the “tap” functionality from scratch.

Long Press

Implementing a thread CTA on this state will not disrupt the current user flow.

The long press seems to be the most suitable gesture, since its current use is already for taking further action concerning a particular message. Long pressing reveals a primary and a secondary CTA. The primary floating button lets you react with the message by choosing an reaction, and the secondary CTA bar lets you proceed to further actions like copy, delete and forward.

What about swipes?

Introducing a new feature with a new gesture might seem like a good solution, but it’s not. By doing so, we are placing a secondary level CTA outside of its current predictable location. Users are used to being shown further CTA by long pressing the chat bubble, so it’s better to stick with that location.

CTA Hierarchy

Does this feature need a primary or a secondary CTA?

It depends. Since it’s not possible to get real metrics to evaluate the scale of the problem and provide a well-informed design decision, I will proceed and tackle threads as a secondary feature and implement a secondary CTA.

CTA position

Finding the right position for the CTA is equally important with finding the right gesture that will reveal it. Due to the nature of the chat bubble and since we want the implementation to look native, I can see 4 possible positions.

a. Next to the chat bubble

The icon positions seen above currently appear next to chat bubbles that contain media (images, videos, articles etc.). These icons are currently used as secondary CTA after long pressing a text chat bubble, but in the above case they are positioned directly beside the media bubble, for quick access.

In our case, after a long press the thread icon position should look something like this:

The problem here is that we have introduced a new secondary feature, outside the predictable position, the secondary CTA bar.

Another problem is that when a user interacts with a chat bubble, his thumb will usually hide the thread CTA. Since the floating button is so prominent and eye-catching, chances are the user will miss it.

b. Above the reaction floating button

Although this position might seem like a good idea, it makes threads a primary CTA, having to compete with the existing floating button.

With or without the threads icon, this position makes it very prominent, thus it is rejected.

c. Below the chat bubble

For the same reason as the position “next to the chat bubble”, we position the CTA outside of the predictable location, the secondary CTA bar. This position does not qualify because as well, because it creates a tertiary CTA level which is not clear.

d. Inside the secondary CTA bar

Positioning the thread icon directly into the secondary CTA bar feels more natural and tidy. This way there are two distinguishable focus points, separating the primary and secondary actions. We have a winner!

Threads Component

Threads integration must be seamless to the current user flow. Besides being easily accessible, they must also be easily dismissible.

Since the threads feature is a secondary one, its component must be instant and temporary. By that I mean that we must not redirect the user to a new dedicated thread screen, rather use a component that has similar properties to the modal window.

The closest component for this case that is also currently in use, is Messenger’s bottom sheet, displaying the people in the group that interacted with a particular message as we saw earlier in the story.

We can use the exact same layout to let a user start or reply on a thread, by adding the keyboard functionality.

The user can see how many replies he got and by whom, just like he can currently see who posted a reaction to his/her message.

Reactions work within the threads, exactly the same as in a normal group chat.

Thread Indications

We can use the same style and behaviour of the reaction indications onto the thread indications, because they both refer to user interactions on a particular message. Tapping on a thread indication reveals the bottom sheet, just like tapping the reaction indications does.

Thread and reaction indications can co-exist on a chat message bubble.

All of the above constitute my suggestion for the threads implementation feature. The conversation remains fluid and flexible while users are allowed to interject without interrupting the chat continuity or confusing the members of the group. Threads implementation seems natural to the current user flow, since already existing Facebook components and interactions are used, reinforcing the user familiarity with the Messenger app.

Details

Users can directly view or reply to the thread by pressing the sticky notification at the bottom (sometimes on top, if scrolled) of the chat. Currently this feature is being used to notify the user about reactions and messages he missed while on scroll.

Disclaimer: I do not work/have worked for/am affiliated with Facebook/Facebook Design in any way. I did this concept purely out of interest and desire to help improve an already excellent service.

When texting what is a thread?

Threaded view means that all messages from the same person you text messaged would be grouped together in a conversation-style list, much like instant messaging or Facebook messaging.

What does it mean to create a thread on Facebook?

Facebook Rolls Out Threaded Comments for Pages: “Reply directly to comments left on your Page and start a conversation thread. The most active and engaging conversations will be shown at the top of your posts.” Replies and threaded comments improve the quality of conversations on Pages.

What happens when you delete a thread on Messenger?

You can't see deleted messages or conversations. Deleting a messagepermanently removes it from your Chat list. Keep in mind that deleting a message or conversation from your Chats list won't delete it from the Chats list of the person you chatted with.

What is a Facebook message thread?

Facebook is making it a bit easier to keep track of who's talking to who in a busy group chat. It's rolling out a thread feature for Messenger that lets you reply to specific messages (including media and emoji). If you ask an important question, you won't have to scroll through chat to see if someone answered it.