The Newest Social Media Platform
The newest social media platform, Threads, has taken the world by storm accumulating over 100 million new users in the first week of release, but what is Threads and how does it work?
Created by Mark Zuckerberg, Threads is an app built by the Instagram team allowing people to join public conversations and share text updates and thoughts. As it can be directly connected to an Instagram account, when you sign up there is an option to connect with everyone you already follow. This feature helps ease your way into the app as you will already follow some familiar faces and will not have to go searching for every fellow friend. While this information transfers over to the app, a link to your Threads account will automatically appear in your Instagram bio. This way, anyone that follows you on Instagram can go ahead and follow you on Threads as well. It is a great feature, especially for celebrities, helping fans and people avoid following fake accounts. The link is removable if you wish.
Like Instagram, interacting with posts takes the same formatting on Threads. There is a heart icon to like a thread, a quote bubble to reply to a thread, a repost button, and a share button in the form of a paper airplane icon.
There are a few other features that transfer between both social platforms. For example, if you are verified on Instagram, you will be verified on Threads. Blocked accounts on Instagram will carry over as well. You can also share your threads to your Instagram story, really connecting the two platforms. Finally, your feed consists of threads from people you follow as well as recommended content from new creators.
There has been quite some talk about how similar Threads is to the already popular social platform, Twitter, now X. While they are similar in nature, there are differences among both of them. Threads allows users to upload 5 minute videos as opposed to Twitter allowing 2 minute and 20 second videos. Also, Threads does not limit how many posts users can read per day. On the other hand, Twitter offers direct messaging, trending stories, and hashtags while Threads has not yet been updated with those features.
What does Threads mean for brands and companies?
There is no telling what the future of the app looks like, meaning that as Threads is new to the scene, it is important for brands to stay up to date with constant threading because it could potentially be the next big app.
Currently, there are no ads or any type of monetization features, so the only way for brands to effectively utilize the app is through growing a follower base. Since Threads is surrounded around sharing thoughts and ideas, being personable and connecting to your target audience is necessary to grow your follower base. Threads opens up the opportunity for brands to share their voice in a more informal light and let their personality shine through. There is also a chance to end up in anyone’s feed because of the recommended content feature, so posting threads could lead to new followers and engagement. In just the first two hours of the release, it hit 2 million user sign ups meaning there are millions of new people that could potentially stumble across your brand. When you understand your brand image and what message you want to get across, start threading and grow your audience!
Threads is the talk of the town and you don’t want to be out of the loop. Whether you are a brand, company, or just casually want to thread about your day to day thoughts, hop on over to the app and play around until you get a grasp about what Threads has to offer. There are sure to be more software updates and features in the future as the app is in its learning curve, so stick around and find out what the newest social media is all about!
