Are you Thready?
Threads, a new app by Instagram, has launched into app stores on Thursday morning in the US, UK, Australia, and over 100 other countries.
Built to rival Twitter and capitalise on the platforms many challenges since the buyout by Elon Musk late last year, Threads is an app for sharing text updates and joining public conversations.
Within the first 24 hours of launch, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Threads has gathered 30 million users globally, with some estimates calculating a new user growth of about 1 million accounts per hour as users flock from the hugely popular Instagram.
Threads is connected to Instagram, with the ability to migrate over both followed accounts and followers. If any of those followers or followed accounts are not yet on threads, they will be automatically prompted to connect with you upon their arrival to the platform.
Europe is currently absent from the app’s roll out until further notice, due to stricter data sharing laws in the EU meaning Threads and Instagram cannot data share in the same way as other regions.
Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. Hashtags are noticeably absent from the platform.
What does this mean for brands?
Brands currently have a golden window of opportunity to geton Threads in its infancy.
At time of writing, there are no ad placements on the Threads app, meaning organic reach is likely to be at an all-time high. But Meta will likely be placing ads on the platform within the coming months, if not weeks. It would make the most sense for these into the existing Ads Manager platform as an extra placement, but this is yet to be confirmed.
So, while the user base is rapidly expanding, and you can take advantage of importing followers and connecting with them as they arrive, now is the perfect time to make a grand entrance.
Small giveaways for followers who comment, new product launches, or other entertaining or valuable content (“thread” related puns are already trending on the platform) are great ways to engage your audience in this new environment.
Housekeeping
Those brands who have invested time into crafting comment filters and block lists on Instagram need not despair, these features are available on Threads too.
You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu on a thread, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads. You can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads from the same menu.
As your Threads account is linked to your Instagram handle, there won’t be any risk of someone else taking your brands username on this new platform. However, impersonation risk remains the same as it always has although verification will also be carried over, so if you possess a blue tick on Instagram, you also will on Threads.
This is still a developing topic, so Assembled will continue to provide updates where appropriate.
Please ask your Assembled Media team if you have any further questions.