I am sure you have heard someone mention the term ‘Threads’ in the last few weeks. Are they talking about a thread of yarn or ribbon? Well, maybe expand that thinking by about 500 characters worth.
On July 5th, 2023, the Instagram and Facebook parent company, Meta, launched Threads. One day after its launch, Threads had 30 million downloads. Just a week later it boasted 100 million downloads. So far, the app has many celebrities, brands, and journalists, even pulling strong music fan groups into the mix.
While many were waiting for Threads like a kid at a candy store, some people were hesitant about the new platform that had been launched. With Twitter experiencing many up and downs after Elon Musk’s takeover, it had all heads turned about whether Threads would be the new Twitter altogether.
What is Threads?
Meta has developed a new text extension app to its arsenal, working strikingly similarly to Twitter. The Threads feed has a familiar touch with its text-based posts and real-time conversations. Threads provides video posts of up to 5 minutes, pictures, and links–featuring accessibilities such as alt text and screen-reader support.
Meta has explained that you can use up to 500 character limits on posts. Similar to Twitter, users can reply, repost, comment, and quote others’ posts on Threads. This makes it easier for businesses because a majority already use Instagram and can simply share their Threads posts straight to Instagram without hassle – the remaining question will be, can and should your business leverage Threads for their social media strategy?
How to start using Threads?
Users and businesses can sign up using their Instagram accounts. The Threads app automatically connects to users’ Instagram account when they sign up! Users can keep everything the same as their Instagram profile but do have the ability to edit their profile to be unique for Threads. One roadblock users are talking about is that you can’t delete your Threads account since it is linked to each other. So please beware of this before you install Threads.
Where is Threads available?
Threads is currently available in more than 100 countries. You can download Threads through the Apple or Google stores.
Longevity of Threads
After monitoring and critiquing the new app now for a couple of weeks, I can shed some light on it. As of mid-July, the peak curiosity is beginning to wear off, daily active users are at 23.6 million in a week. The possible Twitter contender dropped from 49 million to 23.6 million by July 14th.
Now, you might want to roll your eyes at me by this point. Yes, while this is a drastic fall, it is an app that launch recently and needs improvements like all starter apps. SimilarWeb said in a blog post this week, “In the race to replace Twitter, Threads is off to a strong start but still has a long way to go toward winning the enduring loyalty of those who partake in a social network dominated by text posts and linked articles.”
Threads needs to keep their users engaged past the hype up that it has at first glance. The thing that sets them apart is that Meta already had a vast existing user base. On July 18th, Threads added its first update to the new app. Senior Editor of Mashable, Stan Schroeder, stated, “Threads is doing something about it, which includes features like translations, activity feed scrolling and loading improvements, and the ability to subscribe to unfollowed users.”
Conclusion
As any new app launches, trials, and errors are necessary. While people are getting more frustrated with the beloved Twitter app, Threads still has a good chance to be strong competition. Time will tell if Threads could ever eliminate Twitter, but I am hopeful it can at least find its own place within the text-based platforms.
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said earlier this week, “The focus for the rest of the year is improving the basics and retention. It’ll take time to stabilize, but once we nail that, then we’ll focus on growing the community. We’ve run this playbook many times (FB, IG, Stories, Reels, etc) and I’m confident Threads is on a good path too.” Like the kid at the candy store earlier in the blog, I will be waiting up to see how Threads grows. Until next time~