It was a short week. It was supposed to be calm. Social media managers everywhere were coming off a nice Tuesday July 4th holiday… And then, boom. Meta launched Threads one day sooner than expected on Wednesday, July 5th.
It was surprising. It was chaotic. People started seeing notifications for their “friends’ first Threads” on Instagram. With over 100 million users (and counting) now, Threads is growing rapidly without showing signs of slowing down any time soon.
If you’re a content or brand marketer, you’ve probably read a few “What is Threads?” and “How XYZ Brands Launched” articles already. (Yep, Wendy’s is making humorous headlines again.) Honestly? It can be a lot to keep up with, in addition to exploring the new platform itself.
So, we consolidated the top things to know so far, some of our Consultants’ preliminary POVs, and a few “must do” recommendations you should consider implementing ASAP (if you haven’t already!)
If you’d like to be knowledgeable in your next office elevator ride without having to text your tweenager, take a look through this topline, good-to-know list.
Author’s Note: This article, like Threads, is evolving rapidly and will be updated with new news, trends, and features.
Top 10 Things About Threads “So Far”
There’s a lot of information out there and a lot we still don’t know. The following is a quick, all-in-one recap for you and your teams to reference as you continue to get to know the newest app on the block: Threads.
1. Threads was developed and launched by Meta on July 5th, 2023. (Think Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and yes, “the Zuck.”)
2. For now, Threads has a solid premise and purpose: to be the friendlier, easier, newer, text-based alternative to Twitter.
Initial reactions have been largely positive, with Buzzfeed saying “Threads is like Twitter with a better vibe.”
As yet another new social media app, only time will tell if Threads will be around in a few years. (Rest in peace Tumblr, Friendster, and Vine…)
3. Threads is now officially the “fastest growing social media app ever” after growing to 50M within just 24-hours and 100M+ current users as of 7/10.
4. You can’t have Threads without Instagram. (And vice versa.) They’re intrinsically linked, meaning:
- You can’t join without IG.
- And you can’t delete without deleting IG.
- Same guidelines as IG.
- Because your current IG name/handle is forced over and applied to Threads, you cannot create different personal vs business that don’t already exist on IG.
5. There are no ads (yet), no hashtags (yet), and the platform is built for mobile versus desktop (so far.) This is not your grandma’s sit-down-at-your-desk-to-scroll Facebook.
6. Content-wise, there’s a 500-character count limit with the ability to add a photo or a video up to 5 minutes in length. All posts are easily shareable back to IG. Threads also has buttons to like, repost, reply to or quote a thread, and users are able to see the number of likes and replies a post has gotten.
7. Twitter has already issued a “cease and desist”, Elon Musk calling Threads a “copycat app.” He’s also accused Meta of poaching ex-Twitter employees and leveraging classified info to build Threads. No word yet on when that cage match might be…
8. An API is not yet available for social post / monitoring integrations like Sprout, Rival IQ, Loomly, etc. (Again, yet). Meta says they are “working to soon make Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet.”
9. While Threads makes it incredibly easy to sign-up and re-follow everyone you already follow on Instagram, you cannot yet filter or sort to only see posts from people you follow.
This has resulted in quite the newsfeed experience, with text-based posts from both strangers and friends alike.
10. Threads is not yet available in the EU due to privacy concerns and GDPR violations. It’s currently unclear if/when it will be available elsewhere, accordingly.
Opinions, Observations, POVs, and Predictions “One Week In”
Pro tip: If anyone claims to be a Threads expert, stop reading immediately. Slam your laptop shut. Cover your ears and give ‘em a good “La la la laaaaa, not listeningggg, NOT LISTENING!”
Why? Because no one is a Threads expert yet. Everyone’s in the same boat right now: learning, playing, discovering, exploring, laughing, and wondering where this’ll all go.
However, the team here at Convince & Convert is full of wise, nimble Content Marketing ninjas. And we’re passionate about knowing what’s going on and breaking it down for you.
So, here are a few nuggets re: what and how we’re thinking about Threads right now:
“Threads gives brands an interesting chance to make a fresh choice in their social mix: start new and build from the ground up, or bring an existing Instagram community along.”
– Daniel Lemin, Senior Strategist
“Threads gives brands an interesting chance to make a fresh choice in their social mix: start new and build from the ground up, or bring an existing Instagram community along.”- There isn’t a clear best practice, but the opportunity to jump into a new type of platform with an existing community is tempting. The learning curve on Threads is low; it’s streamlined and easy to learn.
- Don’t just copy and paste content from your other channels; if someone sees your content on Threads they’ll also likely be seeing it on IG. Take the opportunity to experiment with different formats on Threads.
“Threads is a fast-moving and evolving new platform.”
– Sunny Hunt, Strategist
- More features will likely be rolled out pretty frequently in the weeks and months to follow.
- I like to follow Adam Mosseri for up-to-date information and feature roll-out updates.
– Jennifer C. Harmon, Content Strategist & Creator
“So far, Threads content has been fresh, funny, and off-the-cuff.”- The most interesting – and refreshing – part of following Threads has been seeing many users and brands posting new, creative content that we haven’t seen from them on other platforms.
- So many preliminary posts are light and silly. You can tell social media managers and consumers alike are having fun playing, experimenting, and learning…all while avoiding posts that feel overly produced or contrived.
- Many brands have already made big splashes with humor, light/silly commentary, engagement-centric surveys, and public cross-account conversations.
- My absolute favorite so far? Hill House, the home and fashion brand with a #NapDressNation cult following that has lingered well beyond its COVID-era debut. One of their first posts was funny (even a bit random?), acknowledged how the social media manager was posting before their boss even knew Threads “existed” (brava!), AND created hundreds of mega-early-adopter engagements in a fever-pitch of replies when they promised to randomly select and gift some monogrammed nap dresses to those that answered their (not-so-serious) prompt.
– Gini Roberts, Senior Director of Media & Sponsorships
“Brands are wasting no time in promoting product info while Threads is still new and highly discoverable.” - Ferrara (an alumni guest of the Convince & Convert Social Pros podcast), had some great posts to launch each of their candy brands on this new platform:
Immediate Recommendations and Must Do’s for Threads “Right Now”
To be perfectly honest, as soon as I realized Threads had launched early, I groaned. I’m sure I’m not alone in my train of thought for anyone that’s in content / social marketing:
- Ugh, another social media app to (learn) (post for) (support with resources) (measure)
- Hmmm, am I sure I want to sign-up? If I want to delete it, I have to delete Instagram too?!
- Gahhhhh, I already spend way too much time on IG already….
- I never even fully embraced TikTok personally. Is this one “for me” personally, professionally, or both?
- What is a thread?
- Is this going to be called “threading” now?
- Are people threading without me?!
- I’m not funny enough for this…
- I just know a million bosses out there are going to ask their social media teams for their Threads strategies tomorrow morning…
- Huh. This is actually kinda nice. Pretty refreshing. Ha!, and funny. Okay, Meta, OKAY.
Right, so if any of those initial first reactions sound familiar, let’s cut to the chase. Threads isn’t going anywhere for “right now.” Knowing that, these are your Must Do’s. Do them, if you haven’t already, and do them quickly. Feel free to print this out and show it to Legal if they tell you it’ll be ~60 days. Don’t delay!
Top Threads Action Items & Recommendations for Brands and Content Marketers
- Claim your username/account ASAP!
- Even if you don’t take action (post / engage) yet, park your brand name(s).
- It takes mere moments to sign up / download since Threads pulls in your already-existing IG name, bio and even the option to transfer your follows.
- If your company takes a long time to approve a new platform presence and you have to go through multiple layers of approval, we highly recommend starting this internal process ASAP, if you haven’t already, to claim your username and presence.
- Even if you don’t take action (post / engage) yet, park your brand name(s).
- Example: Disney’s umbrella IG has a claimed account but has not yet posted, whereas a smaller-but-mighty specific branch of the company, Disney Parks, is already magically posting away.
- Get familiar with the technical aspects of the platform and start monitoring if/how your customers and competition are using Threads.
- Talk with your social media team about the operational aspects of adding a new platform to manage. What do they need in terms of support in order to successfully launch and maintain a branded Threads account?
Ask them for their preliminary thoughts on the app as far as tone / voice / style / cadence, instead of requesting a full-blown, overnight strategy.
- Try not to just re-post the exact same content / captions you’re posting elsewhere…at least for now.
- While content atomization will likely be an organic evolution and application for Threads in the future, none of the big players seem to be regurgitating content in this infancy stage.
- Also, users are mostly taking the “text-based, Twitter-like” function to heart, skipping the photos and videos in favor of witty captions and plenty of emojis.
- Be patient and be flexible with your expectations. Stay nimble. And have fun!
Happy…Threading?
Stay tuned. We’ll be updating this article as we continue to learn more.
Sound off! Did we miss something? Have you signed up for Threads yet? We’d love to hear your take. Share your thoughts and takeaways with us on LinkedIn.
Need help? We love guiding teams through any/all social media and content marketing challenges and solutions. If you don’t know where to start with Threads or ramping up organizational resource support, we can partner with you to get your plans on track and thriving (and threading? ::wink::)
Contact us! Our team of Convince & Convert strategists and content creators are here to help with social media, content marketing, digital planning, and CX needs. With the combined experience of our 15 senior team members and strategists and a net promoter score of 78 (higher than the Ritz Carlton), we’re ready to help lead you to the next level.
How do you feel about Threads? Let us know! Connect with us here.
