Unpicking Threads

Irina Meier asks if the new platform is worth the hype

Meta’s new social platform, Threads, arrived with a bang last week and immediately jumped to the top of the list of app downloads, hitting the milestone of 100 million potential users in just five days.

While many people expected Threads to be a direct competitor of Twitter, there are some notable differences.

For example, unlike Twitter and its parent app Instagram, Threads doesn’t support hashtags, although it is of course possible that they’ll be added later.

And while Threads is available on both mobile and desktop, users can only view content on the desktop version; currently there’s no way to post (at least not without a technical workaround). This could raise compliance issues for companies, as social marketers may be required to use their own devices to manage company feeds. Another difference is that Threads enables people to edit published content, something that only Twitter Blue subscribers can do right now.

A further point to keep in mind is that, to create a Threads account, you first need an Instagram account, something that not all B2B organisations will have. To start using Threads, these companies could set up a zombie account on Instagram, posting only minimal updates. However, a zombie account isn’t a great accessory for a business as it doesn’t create the greatest impression of a brand.

In addition, since Insta and Threads are suited to different types of content, the social media team can’t just share the same post across both platforms. This means they’ll need to manage two accounts, even if they only want to use one.

There are some positives. Posts on Threads can be 500 characters long, so there’s room to share a decent amount of words, especially when compared to Twitter’s 280 limit. Threads also supports videos that are up to five minutes long. In addition, it’s relatively easy to filter out and delete replies.

We’ll keep this thread open to see if the situation changes (pun intended).