Elon Musk and his Twitter takeover have been dominating the headlines, raising many concerns about the new policies.
The once free ‘community’ forum, has been reduced to a more basic free version, with additional features only accessible via upgraded accounts - including the ability to be verified (and even just to view more than 1,000 tweets per day).
This has made people question the safety and viability of the platform and many individuals and brands started to look elsewhere to get their ‘Twitter’ fix.
Enter Threads
Meta’s answer to a text-focused social media platform was launched on 6th July and gained a thread count of over 50 million users in just 24 hours.
To untangle the world of Threads, we spoke with our social media guru, Bryan Armit, to get his initial thoughts on this exciting new entrant to the social media scene.
So, Bryan, after spending some time on Threads, what are your initial thoughts?
It feels like a very good first draft. The bones are there and it has captured good elements from both Twitter and Instagram.
Is there anything missing from Threads?
Threads is missing some key features such as:
A “following” feed
Search
Hashtags
Analytics
Direct messaging
Polls
A gif keyboard
These missing features have already been acknowledged by the Instagram head, Adam Mosseri, and are in development as we type. Though he explains they may take some time to implement.
What does the culture look like on Threads?
At this stage, the culture on Threads is difficult to characterise. And that’s possibly the biggest point to stress right now.
We all know and understand the culture and intricacies of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, and of course, Twitter but this has yet to evolve on Threads. And ultimately it will be determined by the users – what kind of content do they want to see? What is the platform etiquette? Who are the key players?
Adam Mosseri hinted at how Meta sees it being different from IG in the below post, highlighting the importance of back-and-forth engagement on Threads:
Will Threads be the Same as Twitter?
Right now, it feels very different from Twitter.
Yes, it has the same core functionalities of Twitter, but the user base feels more like Instagram - given the users have all come from Instagram.
It will be interesting to see how, and if, this will change.
Currently, to have a Threads account you need to have an Instagram account, which might be a deterrent for those on Twitter who dislike Instagram.
It would be interesting to see if, and how, the dynamic would shift if more users started to spill over from Twitter and other platforms.
Do you think Elon Musk should be worried about Threads?
Probably. Threads shows promise and has grown to 50 million users in just over 24 hours. Meta is powerful and they will fight to make Threads a success.
Musk has already threatened legal action. See his tweet below:
So, What Do You Call a Threads Influencer?
A Threadfluencer? A threadsetter?
But in all seriousness, the language that is used to describe activity on Threads is another area that will be interesting to see how it stitches together (see what I did there?)
On Twitter you are a Tweeter and you “tweet”, on Pinterest you are a Pinner and you “pin”. On threads are you a Threader who threads?
Meta doesn’t think so, according to the official Threads account (see below image).
This may seem like a trivial matter, but it plays a big part in how users identify with the app and buy into the overarching culture.
Will Threads take over from Twitter?
I can guarantee they have a goal date for when they hope the Threads user base will surpass that of Twitter (around 400 million users).
That would be a key turning point and could potentially give Meta the ‘Social Media Monopoly’ if it owned three of the largest social media platforms. That could potentially come with its own issues in regard to user manipulation, data and advertising costs. With less viable advertising options, Meta could control the baseline cost for social media advertising, more than it already does.
