What is Threads and is it important for SMBs?

This morning you may have noticed (another) flurry of news surrounding Twitter, but this time it isn’t due to technical faults or Elon Musk’s latest changes to the platform. The social media platform, which has suffered from users jumping ship to Mastodon and other platforms since Musk’s takeover, has another new rival in town. But this one poses a bigger threat because it’s from Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s master brand that covers Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s called Threads and it’s already got over 10 million sign-ups.

This blog was originally posted on 4th July 2023 and has been updated following the launch of Threads.

On the surface, Threads looks to be Meta’s rival to Twitter. Its page on the Apple App Store reads:

Though Meta declined to comment on the launch of Threads, based on its description and the app’s previews, it seems to be very similar to its competitor.

The downfall of Twitter has been speculated for a while thanks to its owner Elon Musk’s questionable approaches to everything from employee welfare to self-confessed “ dumb decisions ”. But those so-called dumb decisions may be finally coming home to roost as Twitter has seen a weekend of outages and outrage as a result of Musk’s initial recent change to limit tweet loads for users depending on their verified (or unverified) status.

Naturally, this did nothing for remaining Twitter users and many have cited this as the ongoing slow and painful death of Twitter. But to add salt to Elon Musk’s already raging wounds, it’s been announced today that Meta, owners of Facebook and Instagram, are launching Threads, the Instagram-linked app.

A daring but arguably smart move by Mark Zuckerberg and co, this new platform may just settle the question many marketers and ex-Twitter users have been asking for a while which is “can Twitter be replaced?” If Threads manages to engage the multi-million audience, it may just provide the final in Twitter’s coffin. Which leads us to ask the next important question…

Threads is linked to Instagram, so this has undeniably enabled the sheer volume of sign-ups in the first few hours of launching. However, don’t let that mislead you into thinking this is just a splash in pan. Threads embodies all of the core qualities of pre-Musk Twitter (stream of short-form content, reply threads, and unlimited scrolling). Additionally, you can post up to 500 characters alongside multimedia content and, of course, gifs.

Though the two platforms are distinctly similar, there are some features that users have highlighted that Threads doesn’t do so well. First to raise concern was the resounding consensus is the omission of a direct messaging function is one of the major, or only, downfalls of the new rival app.

Another comment acknowledged by users is that their timelines are seeing a mixture of content from people they follow and then content “suggested by the algorithm”. Though this may not be ideal if you’re being presented with influencers you’re not keen on engaging with, this could pose as an exciting opportunity for businesses who may fall into the feed of potential customers. However, this is pure speculation and if Instagram’s algorithms are anything to go by , this early engagement could fizzle out. So we highly recommend SMBs to join and engage with Threads sooner rather than later on this point alone.

If you’re in the EU you may be logging onto the app store this morning and wondering why you can’t access Threads. Thanks to concerns around compliance with the EU’s strict data privacy rules , it’s unclear whether or when it will launch in the EU.

As with all new social media platforms, it’s difficult to determine whether it will be a viable sales engagement and marketing tool for SMBs straight of the bat. But unlike other social media platforms that have launched in the last few years (TikTok, BeReal, Lemon8), Threads has the backing of Meta and an already existing database of engaged users. Plus, as over 71% of businesses use Instagram , it gives us an indication that Threads might just become another useful outlet for SMBs trying to grow their business and audience. But as we said before, it’s important to get in there early whilst users are engaged and the algorithm is in SMBs favour as, if Musk is anything to go by, the rules could change at a moments notice.

How has Twitter reacted, you may be wondering? Well, die-hard Twitter and Musk fans have been flooding the platform with memes in support of Musk. And Musk himself? Well, he’s just enjoying the attention.

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Happy scrolling!