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Elevate Your Close Circle Conversations with the New Text Based App Set To Rival Twitter

In the ever-evolving world of social media, Meta continues to stay at the forefront of innovation and we have now had time as a team to try Instagram’s “Threads”, which is touted as a less problematic and positive alternative to twitter. 

With the introduction of “Threads,” Instagram aims to improve communication and enhance the way users connect with their friends and close circles online. Threads allow users to post up to 500 characters of text and videos up to 5 minutes long with additional links. It is described as a friendly platform where communities can come together to discuss shared interests and trending topics. 

Our Managing Director Charlie Terry recently spoke to a Meta HQ contact who is close to the project and they insisted that the app is only at “1% of the eventual capabilities and feature sets” they mentioned that they will be adding many features imminently such as search functionality, hashtags to group topics, an enhanced feed, graph syncing and direct messaging”

In this blog, we delve into the exciting new release of Threads and explore how this feature could transform text-based interactions globally. 

Why Now? – The gap in the market

As you may know, Twitter has recently come under fire for several actions facilitated by platform owner Elon Musk. Not long ago, Twitter limited the number of tweets that can be viewed in a day, as well as charging people extra for access to popular features such as editing tweets. Musk was also the first platform owner to introduce a charge for the famous twitter blue tick. 

Instagram Threads closely resembles the visuals we are used to on Twitter, although some of the wording has been changed, with retweets called “reposts” and tweets called “threads”. 

In his first Threads posts, META owner Mark Zuckerberg has addressed the challenges Twitter has created – “I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will”.

Are you ready to get posting?

Threads is now available for download, however, there are pros and cons to being one of the first people to jump on the platform. 

The biggest advantage to joining is that your account is linked to your personal Instagram so users can follow people on Threads who they already follow on Instagram. If you already have a large following, that following will transfer to Threads’ as long as they opt in. 

One of the other standout features of Threads is the ability to share real-time status updates with your close friends. This feature enables users to express their current mood, location, or activities through auto-generated suggestions or custom inputs. By doing so, Threads encourages authentic communication by allowing users to convey their thoughts and experiences without the need for excessive text-based conversations. It promotes a more organic and dynamic way of sharing moments with those who matter most.

On the other hand, as with all app downloads, users must be aware of the information they are handing over when downloading the app. The terms and conditions reveal you will be handing over access to your health and fitness app, including financial information, contact information, location data, and your web browsing history. The app is yet to be launched in the European Union, as this will go against the implementation of the EU’s Digital Market Act.

Not only that but once you have downloaded the app, a link to Threads will appear on your Instagram bio. There is no way to remove this link and you also cannot delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram account. We have reports from Meta that this may be a feature that will be removed in time, but for now it is a smart move to ensure the app has the ability to get over 1 billion users.  

Despite these concerns, we have already seen the likes of Shakira, Gordon Ramsey, and many other celebrities downloading the app.

Threads for Business?

Social Media managers across the world are all asking the same question – “what does this mean for our business accounts?” and the truth is, we don’t know fully yet! Our advice to clients currently has been one of caution due to the lack of the ability to reverse the decision to open an account. 

Due to the relative user-base it is unlikely that Threads will go the way of other apps that have launched in the past and not continued to grow to global status.

Our advice to businesses that are on the fence whether they should start a Threads account, is the same with all social media efforts, the more you put in, the more you will get out of the relationship with the platform. The first mover advantage is certainly there for larger Instagram accounts due to their following more likely to migrate their personal followings during the account setup process.

For new businesses it may be slightly more difficult to cultivate a new audience on the platform but certainly should be considered as part of your omni-channel strategy.

We recently wrote a blog post about the new app launched by TikTok called Lemon8 which seemed to combine the user experience of Pinterest and Instagram which now has an estimated 20 million users. This account was not tethered to your TikTok account so understandably has seen slower growth. How many users does TikTok have globally? TikTok reportedly now has over 20% of the internet user-base on the platform which equates to over 1 billion global users.

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