Threads: A review of its functionality, take-up and what comes next for the platform
So, a new platform has arrived – and early signs suggest it has positioned itself well long-term.
Plenty of challengers to the current social media footprint have come and gone, but Meta have been clever in their approach to launching Threads, their new text-based conversation app.
It is, of course, very clear that it aims to usurp Twitter – especially when you consider the number of features it has carried across. Given the slightly chaotic feel to the timeline, there is every suggestion its launch may have been moved forward given the difficulties currently being experienced on Twitter.
But two key elements will give Threads a much stronger chance of survival than those that have come – and failed – before it.
By allowing users to keep their Instagram handle, as well as move across their followers from Instagram to Threads, Meta are ensuring a strong footprint on the platform from the off. It also makes sign-up seamless. This will be of huge importance to brands, talent and organisations – providing them a strong and engaged following immediately, rather than starting from scratch.
Secondly – and someway down in the Ts and Cs – you’ll find a small note saying that to delete your Threads account, you’ll need to delete your Instagram. How many of the 10 million who joined Threads in the opening seven hours of the platform being live to give it a try will then want to lose their Instagram just to leave the platform?
When you do join, what about its functionality?
As mentioned, it does seem to have been rushed slightly from Meta’s perspective in terms of launch date, but the user interface is slick and clean. The ability to share your Threads content to Instagram Stories is also smart, with specifically-designed branded elements to encourage you further. That integration, moving forward, is only likely to grow stronger between Instagram and Threads. There is also talk of integration with other social media platforms further down the line and it will be intriguing to see how that develops.
Unlike Twitter, which crops 9:16 video but remains the full width of your screen, Threads has opted to leave 9:16 video and imagery uncropped, meaning it doesn’t fit the full bleed of the feed. Imagery looks a lot slicker on Threads, with multiple images showing as a smart carousel and the general quality appearing stronger than on Twitter.
Unlike Twitter, there are no ads – though we can be certain that will change within the coming months as Meta looks to monetise the platform.
What else is likely to be on their immediate roadmap? The algorithm for a user’s feed is chaotic – likely linked to wanting to show lots of content when people first land on the platform, but a chronological timeline, in which you see posts from people you follow, is going to be an important offering, alongside a potential ‘for you’ element.
Currently hashtags don’t work, and the search functionality only allows you to look for accounts, as opposed to a specific topic or a theme, making it very difficult to explore. There is also no direct message function on the platform currently.
Accessibility will also need to improve. Users are unable to add alt text (descriptive text which conveys the meaning and context of a visual item in a digital setting) to their images, while you’re also not able to add closed captions, meaning open captions (done out-of-app) are your only option.
What about take-up?
All 20 Premier League clubs have joined the platform, with 18 of those posting. Arsenal and Manchester United are the only two clubs yet to Thread as of midday UK on Friday 7th July.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup on the horizon, a number of participating teams have joined the platform - including the reigning champions USA. For all the preparations going into the tournament, adding in a new platform altogether may not have been on the agenda for many of the social media teams, so it will be interesting to see how they approach using the platform. Will it be a complete copy and paste from content they are already posting on Twitter? Will they try to implement a platform-specific strategy? Will they wait until after the tournament to take stock and decide on their approach?
One factor in their decision making may be a lack of analytics, which are currently unavailable on the platform.
The second, and perhaps most important, is to ask themselves: why? What are you hoping to achieve on Threads that can’t come elsewhere – and does it fit within your wider content strategy? How do you adjust your resources to accommodate a new platform strategy?
Having the answers to those questions will be vital, but given the early take-up, it seems Threads is here to stay. So whether it’s immediate or later in the year, we expect to see brands, talent and organisations looking to make full use of the platform moving forward – once the ‘why’ becomes clear.
By Tom Biggs, Lead Consultant