Thread carefully

A little over a week has passed since the launch of Meta’s new Threads app and the social media experts at Crowd have been hard at work exploring the in’s and outs of the social space.

According to the NY Times, Instagram’s new app has been downloaded more than 100 million times since its launch. Taking the crown as the most rapidly downloaded app in history, outperforming even ChatGPT. 

But before we dive into our thoughts about the usability of the app for brands, let’s address the question on everybody’s lips:

Is the rise of Threads Twitter’s downfall?

To answer it simply, no. 

At least not yet. 

The ease of downloading Threads due to its link to your Instagram account has been key to the app’s early momentum, but like we've seen with many recent social media apps like Lemon8 and BeReal, that initial buzz does not always translate to long-term engagement and success.  This is something our team is closely monitoring and assessing to establish the value of investing in this resource for our clients.

While Twitter has been experiencing rising debates, outages and bugs, the social network still has the lead on Threads, with more than 237 million daily users. It is also a space that bridges user interaction between personal and professional, creating room for conversations around industry events, thought leadership, innovation and market research for corporate and service brands globally. Something we have yet to see take off on the Threads app. 

And finally, the value of a new platform for brands ultimately depends on who else is there. Regardless of how many people decide to leave Twitter, creating a community on another platform is an uphill battle. In the critical early stages of Threads, it would be important to observe which communities are coordinating with each other to migrate from Twitter to Threads, and how they overcome the challenges of content loss, fragmentation, and shifted community norms.

Now let’s get into the cool stuff

Threads are already giving brands more engagement than Twitter. This is largely due to the app's integration with Instagram, zooming your followers from one app to the other when you sign up so that each user already has an  established following waiting for them on the app.

Similar to Twitter’s functionality, Threads allows you to make text posts with up to 500 characters. You can also share a collection of images as carousels and videos up to five minutes long.  

When you sign up, you’ll notice that your content feed includes both posts from people you follow as well as content that the app recommends for you. 

According to The Verge interview with Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, Threads is also getting a similar suite of privacy settings to Instagram, including filtering replies, limiting who can reply to threads, and a “privacy shield” feature that allows you to hide your location and browsing history from your friends.

Early strategies for success on the app appear to favour a combination of Twitter and Instagram tactics, with a lighter tone than Twitter but fewer visuals than Instagram. Brands who are already skilled at using humour to find their voice online like Netflix, Lyft, Wendy’s, Spotify and Starbucks are proving more successful on the app than others, however, it is clear that they are leaning heavily on their existing Twitter strategies to guide them.

The next few months will be crucial for Threads to find its footing within the world of social media marketing, and we’re looking forward to exploring the value it could add to our brand strategies at Crowd.