Unraveling Threads

Last week the Meta overlords released Threads, their long anticipated rival to Twitter.

It’s hard to stomach *another* social media platform, but brands are wise to give this one serious consideration. More than 5 million users signed up in the first four hours the platform was live, and, at the time of publication (a mere 7 days after launch), Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg reports more than 100 million users have now signed up. That makes Threads is the fastest growing consumer application EVER.

What is it?

Threads is a social media platform designed to look and act like Twitter. The feed is a stream of mostly text updates, though users can upload pictures and video and engage in real-time conversations.

Just like on Twitter, uses can quote, repost, and respond to other users’ posts. Your account can be public or private.

Unlike Twitter, there is not yet a web browser-accessible version (iOS and Android apps only) and your account is created through your Instagram account (note: you CAN alter your Threads profile after account creation so it is different from Instagram). Hash tags aren’t a thing yet, either.

If you’re verified on Instagram, you’ll be verified on Threads, too. And you can push content from Threads into your Instagram Stories.

What should I do?

Right now, you don’t have to do much. As with any new social media channel, the actual long term experience may not live up to the hype (examples: Clubhouse, Lemon8). It may very well be that micro-blogging isn’t the right approach for every brand.

It’s okay to let the dust settle before incorporating this new platform into your brand’s communication strategy.

If you do log in to explore and decide it’s not for you, be aware that because Threads was initially released years ago as a companion to Instagram and was then retooled to take on Twitter, if you delete your Threads account, you’re also deleting your Instagram account (one of those bugs we mentioned earlier). Some brands have learned this the hard way.