What is Threads? What You Need To Know About the New Social Media Craze
Just when we thought we’d seen everything on the social media landscape, here comes another new social platform created by Meta. Introducing Threads!
Threads debuted seemingly randomly on Wednesday, July 5th with its earliest adopters asking, “What exactly is this?”
As the day went on, you may have seen Instagram friends begin posting their Threads screen names and encouraging others to click over and sign up.
Within the first 2 hours, 2 million people had already joined the platform.
Does this mean that Threads is an app we all need to pay attention to? Or is it another platform that will be here today, gone tomorrow, much like the fate of Vine, Be Real, or Clubhouse?
What is Threads?
If you’ve been on social media for a while, Threads may feel fairly familiar to you. Why? Because the platform’s layout feels almost identical to that of Twitter.!
On the vision for creating Threads, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “Threads is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation. We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind.”
Posts on Threads are predominantly text-based, although you can share short videos, memes, and photos as well. The character limit for posts currently sits at 500 characters, while Twitter has recently expanded theirs to 10,000 characters.
The Threads home feed shows recent posts or “threads” of people you follow and other accounts that you may be interested in checking out.
Each Thread gives users the option to like, reply, repost, or share the thread – all with the goal of encouraging conversation and community.
One of Threads’ main benefits is its direct connection to your Instagram account. The two apps share data, which means it’s easy to find and follow the people you already know and easily build an audience right off the bat.
This integration also allows you to pull your Instagram content into Threads or vice versa.
A sample Threads profile
What’s the story behind Threads?
Threads is owned by Meta, the parent company of apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all with CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the head helm.
With so many social giants already in their catalog, why did Meta need to add its own text-based platform?
The answer might be more personal than you’d expect. This recent app release might simply be the next phase of the feud between Zuckerberg and Twitter’s new CEO, Elon Musk. Animosity has been growing between the two tech billionaires. Most recently the feud has led to talks of an actual physical fight.
Instead, Zuckerberg seems to have launched Threads as a way to digitally throw the first punch.
Regardless of the initial reasons for Threads’ creation, there’s still a good amount of platform growth potential for its users.
Should I use Threads for my business or personal brand?
Threads may be the new hot thing online, but how can you know for sure if it’s a platform you should use for your brand or business?
Here are a few potential benefits of making Threads a part of your marketing strategy:
- Your Instagram followers can easily follow you over to your Threads account.
- Because there doesn’t appear to be a set algorithm yet, your discoverability potential is high.
- It’s easy to repurpose and share content to and from Instagram and Threads because of their connection.
- Threads’ sharing options provide access to easy meme creation that can be used across the web.
- There are currently no ads on the platform to distract viewers, which means your content is more likely to be seen without needing to make a big spend.
If you decide to try out Threads for your brand, here are a few key things to remember:
- First of all, make sure your ideal audience is present on Threads! (Older social users tend to be slower to try out new platforms.)
- Before you start sharing, spend a few days getting a feel for the app to understand how others are using it.
- Assess in a few weeks whether you’re enjoying the platform and if you feel it’s a good place to spend your time. Remember, you can grow your brand anywhere – but you don’t have to be anywhere!
- Have fun! The fact that this is a brand-new platform means you don’t have to do things perfectly!
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that in today’s digital age, having a presence on social media has become essential for success. However, having so many choices of social media platforms can be both a good and bad thing.
Don’t be afraid to explore and try things on new platforms like Threads. But if it doesn’t feel right for your audience or what you do, it’s okay to decide to pass!
Have you created an account on the Threads app yet?
Is it a platform that you can see yourself using long-term?
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Let us know over on Instagram at @redbirdsocialco.