To Threads, or not to Threads
If you have come back to your desk from summer vacation to people talking about Threads and you have no idea what they are talking about, you are not alone!
Instagram introduced “Threads” in early July, while it initially had many people jumping to join, have people continued to be interested in the new platform? Are they seeing results?
Time will tell but here’s some information on Threads if you are just learning about this new platform.
What is Threads:
Threads is a text-based social media app created by Instagram to compete with X (formerly Twitter). The new app was announced on July 5, 2023, and quickly passed 150 million downloads, becoming the most successful launch of a social media platform in history.
You log in using your Instagram account and posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.
Whether you’re a creator or a casual poster, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.
📱 Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose.
📷 Threads differs from Instagram in the way you post. While there are many different types of content you can post on Instagram (Posts, Reels, Stories, etc.) Threads only has one kind of post, which is easy to navigate for anyone new to social media apps.
How to join:
🔑 Simply use your Instagram account to log in. Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads.
👋 Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads. You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram.
🔎 Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet.
So, should you join?
Over the last few weeks, I have had many clients, entrepreneurs and business owners ask me "Should I jump on the Threads train or not?"
Here are some of the questions I have asked them:
Do you have time and energy to invest in another platform?
Do you want to have back-and-forth conversations all day long?
Are your clients on Threads?
Have you looked at who is there and what is happening on the platform?
Do you have content ready to go that makes sense for this platform?
If you have answered No, Maybe or I don't know to any of these questions, it's time to do some research and put Threads on the back burner for now!
So personal opinion:
Did I jump on Threads? At first, I complained and said I didn’t have time for a new platform.
Did I join the next day to make sure I didn’t miss out? YES!
Was it exciting to get 300+ NEW followers in a day? YES!
Did I join personally and not as a business to see what this was all about? YES!
Have I joined as KA Social Media yet? No!
I do like that it’s new and shiny and I’ve had some great conversations, but am I ready to quit using other social media platforms? No!
Personally, having something launch in the summer is not an ideal time to invest a lot of time and effort, so I’m still waiting to see how things shake out before I recommend it to my clients. For now, I’m still dabbling and seeing what happens!
Have you jumped on the Threads train? What do you think? Have you gained business from it?
