Over the last few days, the world of social media has been abuzz about a new platform called Threads – a Twitter rival by Instagram. In Instagram’s own words, “Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations”.
For some brands, the launch of threads will provide a new opportunity to build a social media following and engage their audiences, particularly given the falling popularity of Twitter. But others might be questioning whether having a presence on yet another social media channel is worth the time, investment, and effort for what could be very little ROI. In this article, we explore what Threads is, how it works and what opportunities it could offer.
How does the ‘new Twitter’ work?
The approach is simple really. With Threads, you can post to your profile, which people can then reply to creating a chain of threads. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include photos, videos (up to 5 minutes long), GIFs and links.
But what makes Threads a little different is its integration with Instagram. When you sign up to the platform, you’re not starting from scratch. Users are given the option to follow all the profiles they follow on Instagram, so the chances are a good percentage of your existing audience will opt to follow you on Threads too. Once you’ve signed up, your feed will include threads posted by people you currently follow, as well as content from pages they have liked and commented on, alongside suggested content from creators you aren’t yet following.
Unfortunately, there is no way of signing up for Threads if you don’t have an existing Instagram account, and your handle will also need to be the same. There’s also no web version of the app at this time, but we suspect it won’t be long before that changes. We could also soon see tools like Hootsuite allow for scheduling, which will mean easier business management.
Lastly, it’s important to note that you will only be able to deactivate your Threads profile, rather than deleting your page (removing data from Meta), unless you delete your Instagram too!
Threads vs Twitter
You might be wondering what sets Threads apart from Twitter. The biggest difference is the lack of hashtags, but this doesn’t seem to be limiting content being discovered by new users. In fact, the algorithm works so quickly to learn your preferences, that within a day you’ll start seeing topic trends on your home feed. Threads also seems to be encouraging discovery on the platform, so from the very first day of signing up you’ll be fed new content on your feed, not just popular posts with tons of engagement. That means there’s room to grow, even for smaller creators.
And though it’s hard to describe, the atmosphere on the platform seems different too. Perhaps that’s because so many social media channels – particularly Twitter – have become outlets for complaints. Instead, users on Threads seem intent on creating a more positive atmosphere and appear reluctant to jump on the negativity train.
Users are also finding relief in the lack of products and services being pushed. Currently, there are no ads on the app, and many brands are appearing to take a more casual approach to posting at his time. Mark Zuckerberg himself has also promised to only think about monetisation once they are on a clear path to one billion users. So, for now, this is an ad-free space.
So, what does this mean for brands?
Some would argue that Twitter provided a good avenue for customer service, giving brands a channel to solve issues in real-time (and monitor them too). While Threads could be a replacement, the issue here is that where direct Tweets to and from customers would not show on your Twitter feed, any replies on Threads will be shown to all of your followers. That means more visibility of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
However, if people continue to maintain Threads as a positive platform, brands may instead need to use other social media channels or their websites for customer service, and that might not be such a bad thing.
The platform is very new, and we still have a lot to learn, but what we do know is that social media has, and always will be, a channel to create communities and engage directly with your audience. Companies like Monzo, Aldi, Duolingo and Zoopla are already seeing high engagement on the platform in just under a week. What these brands have in common is a strong brand voice and willingness to not take themselves too seriously. There may not be an immediate ROI, but for brand awareness, customer trust and engagement, Threads could be worthwhile.
Our tip: be authentic.
