Feed, Discovery, and Following
How the feed works, what the main filters mean, and how Everyone, Following, views, hashtags, and timing filters shape discovery.
Where you see this in the app
The feed is the main discovery surface at /feed.
The user-facing controls include:
| UI control | What it changes |
|---|---|
| View | Switches between Threads, List, Map, and Places |
| Scope | Switches between Everyone and Following |
| Sort | Chooses Upcoming, Recent, or Distance |
| Time | Filters by Upcoming, Past, or All timing |
| City / Nearby | Narrows by place context |
| Hashtags | Narrows the feed to matching tags |
| Search | Narrows by text query |
Views, scope, and sorting
The feed supports multiple ways to look at the same underlying discovery surface.
| Option | End-user meaning |
|---|---|
Threads | Best when you want post-and-reply context |
List | Best when you want a compact browseable list |
Map | Best when location is the main concern |
Places | Best when you want posts grouped by place |
The scope control changes whose content is shown:
| Scope | End-user meaning |
|---|---|
Everyone | Explore the wider public/relevant feed |
Following | Focus on creators you already follow or joined |
The sort control changes how the feed is ranked. Upcoming favors near-future relevance, Recent favors recency, and Distance matters most when location data is available.
Location, time, and hashtags
The feed combines discovery filters rather than forcing one single browsing style.
The main practical filters are:
Citywhen you want a place-based slice,Nearbywhen you want geographic proximity,UpcomingorPastwhen timing matters,- hashtags when topic-based discovery matters.
These filters can stack. That means users can narrow the feed from several angles at once instead of browsing everything in one flat list.
Everyone vs Following
Following is not merely a visual bookmark. It reflects a relationship-based view of the product.
From an end-user perspective, Following means the feed is prioritizing creators you already have a membership or follow relationship with.
That is why the experience may feel quieter but more relevant. If the Following feed is empty, the app tells the user to follow more people or switch back to Everyone.
What discovery feels like for viewers
A practical mental model is:
- use
Everyoneto explore, - use
Followingto keep up with your network, - use
MaporPlaceswhen venue/location matters, - use
Threadswhen conversation context matters, - use timing and hashtag filters when you already know the kind of activity you want.
The feed is meant to be a discovery surface, not only a chronological stream. That is why it exposes multiple views and relationship-based filters instead of one fixed timeline.
Related docs
See it in action
Previous
Sign In and Onboarding
How sign-in works, when it is required, and how the GitHub and Product Hunt onboarding flows fit into account setup.
Next
Feed Map, Places, and Location Filters
How the Map and Places views behave, what Nearby and city filters really do, and what users should expect when location data is missing or mixed.