What does Meta’s Threads mean for your non-profit?
On July 5, the Meta rolled out its new app, Threads. Gaining over 100 million downloads in less than a week, it’s safe to assume that Threads offers solace among the Twitter (or “X”) chaos. The big questions here are, what is Threads and is it worth it?
What are “Threads”?
A thread is an easy way to compress all your thoughts and information into one spot, with each new “thread” containing a new part of the story you’re trying to tell. If you’ve ever posted a Twitter thread, this format will look extremely familiar.
Threads is connected to your Instagram account, which, depending on how you use Instagram, could be a major advantage or disadvantage. When you sign up for the app, your Instagram account information will be transferred over to Threads, including your username, account name, bio, age, login info, and profile picture. You can edit as you see fit.
Even though you cannot transfer your followers, you CAN follow all of the same accounts you follow on Instagram, or choose to follow them manually.
The downside of Threads is if you choose to delete your Threads account you will also be deleting your Instagram account. A way around this would be to just stop using Threads versus deactivating the account, although Threads says they’re working on fixing this feature.
How to use Threads
Threads is still very new, and we could compare its launch to a pilot episode of a television show. The future success or failure will depend on how Meta plans to differentiate the app from others existing platforms. Some sources say have stated that usage has already tanked from its initial launch, but that doesn’t mean it will be a flop.
In its current state, anyone can post threads, reply to others and follow profiles you’re interested in from a public or private account. Threads and replies can include short pieces of text, links, photos, videos, or any combination of them. Some features that are loved about Twitter can be found within Threads, such as liking posts and reposting content. Similar to Twitter, posts to Threads have a 500-character limit and a 5-minute video attachment capacity.
Proceed with Caution
Threads seems like an obvious alternative to Twitter, given its surrounding drama, but we can't be too sure of any new platform right away.
Compared to Twitter, Threads lacks hashtags, direct messages, trending topics, and chronological feeds (although they’re working on it!). It’ll be interesting to see if Threads is truly a “copycat” of Twitter, or if they’ll pave their own way.
Ads haven’t yet appeared on Threads, but are expected to be introduced as the platform gains more traction. Without the ability to rely on paid promotion, getting creative with your posts is more important than ever to grab your audience's attention.
Now, it’s up to you!
Although Instagram is linked with Threads, they both serve different purposes as social media channels and to your audience. In this trial phase of Threads, we suggest you claim your handle and keep some form of creative engagement with your audience. From there, you can decide if it’s a new place you want to hang.