Meta launched Threads for Instagram on 6th July 2023, and within 24 hours it had 55 Million users!
What is the new Threads app from Meta?
In very basic terms, Threads is a Twitter copy. Built for short form text-based content, with the option to add images, links, and tag other accounts, Threads is everything you know and love from classic twitter.
In fact, it might just be better – Clean, simple, and currently add-free (due to the app’s infancy), if you love Twitter, fondly remember its glory days, or if you’re a sucker for Instagram and its ultra usable interface, we think you’ll enjoy Threads.
The Threads social media app and Twitter have a few specific differences so far:
- The character limit is a much roomier 500 characters, compared to Twitter’s 240 limit.
- There are no Hash Tags working at the moment
- The search is limited to other accounts and not content
- Threads is connected to your Instagram account, so you’ll need Instagram to have a Threads account
- So far the service isn’t taking ads, which surely won’t last
- You can’t schedule posts to Threads just yet but it will just be a matter of time until it is added to the Meta Business Manager, giving lots of options which are already available to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
Multiple Threads are now available
As expected, Threads is constantly updating. When the app first launched it wasn’t possible to add multiple accounts and control them via the app, you needed more than one phone to do that. All that has now changed and you can now run multiple accounts from the Threads app, something Social Media Managers will be really happy about.
To do this you need to log out of your current threads session and choose the account you wish to use. It’s a little long-winded at the moment, but expect the process to get easier soon.
We registered for the launch app in the Apple App Store and connected our Marketing Optimist Threads account at around 6 am on launch day. So far, we’re getting good engagement and the following is pretty good.
The one thing that gives Threads an edge so far, is that it’s connected to your Instagram account. This makes it easy to sign up, as it pulls through your Insta bio, and allows you to connect to everyone you are already connected to on there. This clever trick gives the app an instant audience, hence the already impressive number of users.
Should you join Threads?
The simple answer is yes. There’s already lots of traffic on there, and if you don’t join, you’re missing out on that. Unlike Twitter, which is in a mess at the moment, the feed is nice and clean and easy to use. So far, we haven’t found a single glitch.
New apps tend to reward new users with reach and exposure, so there’s a benefit from having an account as soon as possible. Threads also has a new algorithm, which means the more you can show it what you know and understand, the better it will begin to show your content. This means that when the search function is developed further, you’ll have more chance of being found.
There’s also lots of noise about Threads. The coverage was wall-to-wall on the launch day. I expected journalists to be on Threads from the beginning, and as they looked for new contributors and stories, I was only too happy to speak about the new app. I did an interview with BBC Radio Leeds and we were featured in Mail Online and Prolific North.
What is the new Threads app? Jump in and find out for yourself.
Can we help you with social media on Threads?
Threads is all very new and we’re still working through how it’ll work for you and your brand, but we’re pretty sure it’s not going away. So if you’d like to find out how Threads can become part of your social media mix, get in touch and we’ll be able to help build it into your overall digital marketing strategy. Just fill in the form and we’ll be in touch.
