The verdict on threads: should my business be using it already?

I’ll start this quick post with a caveat.??

I used to work for Opera software as their Global Editorial Lead. It’s one of the world’s largest web browsers and uses content a lot as a retention tool. It has around 100 million monthly active users globally (20 million DAU).??

They also have plenty of other projects and products on the go, and is owned by Kunlun Group, which started out in gaming and is chaired by billionaire?Yahui Zhou. ??

Once they were looking (around 2017), to make a social media app which focused on short form video snippets and trends that anyone could upload, with the concept that anyone could be an influencer.?

At the time Facebook globally (though there were local market deviations at the time), was still the most adopted and used social media platform. Some small product called TikTok, which did exactly what they wanted to make, was launched in 2016 but nobody had ever heard of it.?

I told the powers that by, that the idea was a bad one and that Facebook offers short-form videos anyway and the media groups can decide what’s hot and what’s not. I left the company shortly after and well TikTok is... TikTok.??

Moral of the story:??

• Take everything I say with a pinch of salt.

That said, will Threads, an Instagram app, Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram/Twitter mish mash, take over the world? Will Twitter be dead in three years? It’s time to get a bit Mystic Meg…?

When Zuckerberg’s bantering, they must be on to a winner?

Coming out of Twitter retirement to troll Elon Musk, you have to wonder whether Mark Zuckerberg has started to find a sense of humour, or if he there is a pivot in how he portrays himself publicly, driven by public relations (more likely). After a hiatus of years on Twitter, Zuckerberg came out of his retirement to meme away on the day he launched Threads:

And when Elon Musk is reportedly threatening to sue Meta, claiming that they stole Twitter intellectual property (this argument is reportedly in relation to an accusation that Meta got ex-Twitter employees to help create the product), you can see it has ruffled feathers.

What are the key differences with Twitter?

No product, (not even ChatGPT), has had quite the introduction?Threads, an Instagram app, has. On 6 July, less than 24 hours since its launch, Mark Zuckerberg claimed it had?30 million downloads ?and it is on track to become the?fastest growing app of all time. ?

But what are the key differences with Twitter?

• With threads, you are allowed 500 characters, opposed to 280, per thread.?I believe Threads’ option is better.?
• You cannot send direct messages in threads.?That stops unsolicited messages from morons. Threads is better.?
• You can post videos of up to five minutes, more than double that of Twitter (two minutes 20).?If a video is truly engaging, three or four minutes of length is fine so on the whole I would say that Threads is better.?

One of Twitter’s appeals (and also its Achilles Heel), is that it promotes trending news and topics, which is great for engagement but can promote a cesspit for commentary. Threads doesn’t promote trending news which removes this level of toxicity but for some users this may be relatively boring.?On the whole I would say I prefer Twitter’s concept, but not its execution.?

You also don’t use hashtags on Threads (well you can but it’ll make no difference). Whether the non-use of hashtags is temporary or permanent remains to be seen.?

As an interface and with its current functionalities, Threads feels like what would happen if you merged Twitter and Instagram together. The look of the app, how to upload content, feels like Instagram, whereas the feed/home area looks more akin to what you would see on Twitter, as does the republishing and liking options (basically a retweet and the love engagement). To claim Threads is a ‘new Twitter’ isn’t really doing it justice – it’s a bit more than that.??

What is its appeal?

As mentioned earlier, it’s been dubbed as the ‘friendly alternative’ to Twitter, even by Zuckerberg himself, and while Musk alludes to common memes in his bid to remain relevant, you could argue (along with the alleged threat of legal action), that he is clearly threatened:?

Part of the appeal of Threads is in its simplicity. As part of onboarding, you have the option to import all the juicy contacts, info, and more from Instagram. You’d be a fool to say no. This is the same process for personal and business accounts.

Within the space of a few clicks you have a ready-made profile and are able to play around with the product.??

This isn’t a new idea. Indeed, when at Opera (mentioned at the start), we were able to launch Opera News in 2018 and it was the fastest growing app in the world for a while, and on the African continent for the entire year. The reason: pretty much forcing Opera browser users onto the app with little choice. However, the difference here is the experience getting Threads and importing key details from Instagram was (dare I say), a really enjoyable experience, whereas the former felt a little more forced.?

I’m one day into playing around and researching, but at the moment the ability to post a thread – question, query, topic, whatever – like Reddit but neater and like Twitter but longer, coupled with the ability to post content such as article links, photographs, videos, and more, all within a very tidy interface, makes this a bit of a winner for personal and corporate profiles.??

It’s easy to join conversations and debates, follow people and companies that align with your values, and post either on a personal account or company one (though as mentioned later you can only currently do so on mobile).??

So should my company get Threads??

It depends on your business, but if you have numerous other active channels then you have no reason not to.??

Retail, as you would expect, has already jumped to join Threads such as Sephora, and F&B such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, but through our testing we’ve noticed scores of other businesses have done so already, including universities and other business types.??

If you work in retail, F&B, or have a persona to keep up with (i.e., your social media strategy is integral to success of your brand)?and you haven’t already launched, push for it as soon as possible. You need an Instagram account to sign up to Threads so if you don’t have one then I’d suggest you hold off for now as you’ve managed to do without Instagram for years so you can wait a few days without getting Threads.??

If you’re unsure, in general getting Threads is a low-risk option and you are able to make the profile private. At the very minimum, you can get an account and sit tight. Or you could wait a while as people cannot steal your company handle from Instagram as it automatically transfers over and you cannot duplicate it (this will be a relief and does mean you have time to think about whether it’s right for your company or not).?

Overall, however, I believe the answer is yes, you should get Threads.?

Is it safe???

What is safe, anymore? What with?Cambridge Analytica ?and the onslaught of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation rife in Zuckerberg’s products (in particular Facebook), you can expect similar worries around what is out there. You’d expect at some stage for Meta to make serious bucks from Threads so it wouldn’t come as any surprise if some of the same old issues rise up again. Indications from Meta are that there will be no paid ads in 2023, so you can assume that means there will be in 2024.??

Then again, at this moment in time you only have to type a remotely contentious topic into Twitter to see an abundance of hate, fake and false news, misinformation, disinformation, hatred spewed out of every corner, conspiracy, and intolerance. From the author’s perspective, the most recent example of that was when the recent?attacks in Nottingham ?were pounced on by hate groups such as Britain First, which in turn became the prevalent voices for the trending topic. It’s not surprising brands are?pulling their ads. ?

And you can worry about your data until the cows come home, but fundamentally if you and your company use Instagram or any other Meta product you may as well just continue as is.??

As mentioned earlier, for businesses looking to use Threads, there’s a governance issue in that you cannot use Threads on desktop and will be reliant on a couple of social media managers posting from their phones (at least for the short-term future). Make sure you trust them and have a crisis policy in place.???

Irritations??

Do you use Hootsuite, HubSpot, or a clever intranet which has the ability to disseminate content across social channels (such as Staffbase)? If so, you probably need to have a conversation about the ifs and whens of integrating Threads into the offering. And get ready to be fobbed off for at least a few months, as well as fighting with every other customer trying to find out the same answer.?

And let’s be honest, one of the other irritations is that it’s ANOTHER SOCIAL CHANNEL to think about. That’s irritating. Especially if you’re time poor and your ExCo members are pushing it without knowing why.?

Furthermore, as mentioned above, Threads is not currently available on desktop. This means that the content of your entire social channel must be uploaded on the mobile devices of the social media team. This could be a process problem for organisations that require content to be disseminated and scheduled through products that enable multi-channel content distribution.?

The feed is also full of nonsense influencers that have no relatability to the user. If you assumed that accepting the transference of your Instagram data to Threads would mean you see the same level of relevant content you’d see on Instagram, you’d be wrong. Currently it is promoting irrelevant celebrities, sometimes obscure, and time will tell whether the algorithms will sort themselves out.?

Where are the other pain points?

Currently, you cannot delete Threads without also deleting your Instagram page, so if you did quickly jump and add a Threads account for your business, you may have to wait a little while until they sort this. They have not released a perfect product and Meta don’t profess to have done so, either.??

If you are based in the EU, you cannot yet access the app. If you are based in the EU and have managed to access it using a VPN, please let us know.??

Final verdict if you’re considering using Threads in your company?

If you’re hugely short of time and your Instagram account is pretty much dead away, don’t rush into anything.??

If you work in retail, or are any type of consumer goods company, get the app and leave it in the hands of your most trusted social media manager.??

If you have an active presence on both Twitter and Instagram, or even on just one of these channels, then you should be adopting Threads too.??