When Meta launched their text-based app Threads in July 2023, the hype arrived thick and fast. It reached one million users in an hour, and 100 million after just five days, making it the fastest growing social network and beating the previous record set by Open AI’s ChatGPT app. Now the dust has settled, we’re discussing whether businesses should get on board or if Threads as a platform has unravelled.
Frequently described as ‘Instagram’s answer for X’ and, at times, ‘The Twitter Killer’, Threads shares a likeness to the well-known app by being formed of short text-based pieces of content, with likes, reposts and quotes.
Who uses Threads?
Designed to be a platform for real-time conversations and sharing, Threads was picked up very quickly by high-profile celebrities and big name brands including Netflix and BBC.
It was described by Meta as a “positive and creative space to express your ideas”, and, in contrast to X, it has very little focus on reactions and shares and is generally seen as a less ‘toxic’ environment.
However, the more conversational format makes it more difficult to go ‘viral’ and instantly get millions of users viewing your business compared to other platforms. Threads can provide an easy way of conversing between businesses and consumers, and is a great way of building your brand’s community, but is less useful as a promotional tool.
Businesses can use the platform to join in on relevant conversations, comment on the latest trends and engage with their community in a much more casual sense than other platforms we’ve seen, but may want to rely on additional platforms for more structured and promotional content.
Do people still use Threads?
Despite its initial surge in popularity, since it reached the 100 million mark very quickly in July, the platform has only gained an additional 60 million users.
On its launch date, 6 July, Threads reported 41.79 million daily active users. Now, there’s reportedly 10.3 million daily active users.
It’s understandable that Threads would premiere with such a strong presence, due to the already staggering amount of active daily users on Instagram, and the original format of Threads that only allowed users to log in with an existing Instagram account. Now, it seems that most Threads’ users have jumped ship and returned to the comfort of the household names of Instagram and X.
However, it shouldn’t be dismissed entirely. Threads still maintains a high volume of users and, with its links to Facebook and Instagram, will always be in reach should the hype rise up again. For many businesses deciding whether to add Threads to its roster of social media platforms, it might be worth considering what your aims are, and whether Threads would work for you.
How has it changed the scope for short-form content?
With Threads angling itself as the friendly and positive social network, it is understandable that many may move over to Threads in the future to avoid the toxicity of online hate. Threads has the capacity to change the scope of short-form content in terms of how we communicate between businesses and consumers. With it being a conversational platform, and not having the ability to directly message just yet, it could become an easy way for consumers to get in contact with brands with queries or questions, without the daunting weight of posting a tweet.
With its easy-to-use sharing tool, many media platforms in particular use Threads to share and promote links to their articles and own work, with a short and concise caption if needed, and it can almost act as a portfolio tool for businesses’ work.
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