Threads.
Unless you’re COMPLETELY disconnected from recent news, pop culture, and social media…
Then chances are pretty good that Meta’s new social platform – THREADS – is all you’ve been hearing about since its launch date in early July.
It’s generating quite the hype.
With 10 million signups in the first 7 seven hours…
And over 70 million signups in less than 48 hours…It’s quickly breaking records as one of the most successful platform launches ever.
But… is the hype worth it?
Is THREADS here to stay? Or will it be yet another hyped-up social platform that quickly picks up steam and then fizzles fast (like Clubhouse or Periscope?)
Well…
I’ve been playing around with Threads for the past 2 weeks, and in this blog, I’m going to give you my honest opinion and first impression of the app
We’re gonna talk about what it is, how it works, and if you “should” be using it…
Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex.
Coming at ya this week with a HOT of the press trend alert…
But before we get into the really juicy stuff…
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So, are you ready to talk about THREADS?
Now OBVIOUSLY, I’m not a Threads expert…
Because NO ONE is a Threads expert (yet).
Honestly, anyone trying to sell you a course on Threads right now is full of crap!! The app is a few days old – you haven’t “decoded the algorithm” or become a “threads strategist” yet – give me a break.
Anytime something NEW comes along and generates a ton of hype, the internet d-bags always come out of the woodwork trying to make a quick buck.
It’s so cringeeeeeeeeee. Please don’t fall for it.
Everything I’m talking about in this video is just what I’m observing and my honest opinions on it…
And while I may not be a Threads expert, I have been in the marketing industry for 15 years – so I have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t…
So let’s get into it.
Starting with… what the heck is Threads and is it worth all the hype?
What Is Threads?
Threads is a new social media app, created by Meta.
It syncs directly with your Instagram account but is a completely separate platform – and unlike Instagram, it’s primarily focused on TEXT and discussions in the form of… well, threads.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the vision for Threads is to create a new experience for Instagram users that’s centered around text and discussions.
Which, hey, is GREAT news for us copywriters who LOVE to write!
Although, right now – at the time of writing this – Threads does allow you to share photos, GIFs and videos under 5 minutes in length…
ANNNDD even carousals like this one I just posted…
So it does make me wonder how mixed media will play into engagement. And whether the algo will treat media differently than pure text posts is YET to be determined.
To me, Threads sort of feels like Facebook with all posts LEADING with text first…
So it does feel like the goal of this platform is to move away from Instagram’s “aesthetic” vibe of perfectly curated content…
…and move towards having more discussions.
And if you’re thinking, “Wait, this sounds a lot like TWITTER?” You are right. The Threads app feels very similar to Twitter…
And LOTS of people are throwing shade at Threads, accusing them of trying to “rival”, “dupe”, or even “steal” Twitter.
I’m not a big Twitter user so I don’t really have much to say about that…
But in this post, Adam Mosseri says they created Threads directly for the creators who already use and love Instagram. He says, “We’re hoping Threads can be a great space for public conversations, and we’re very focused on the creator communities that already enjoy Instagram.”
So – according to them – they’re really focused on trying to keep Instagram followers happy and not really concerned about trying to convert Twitter fans into Threads fans…
Right.
So that’s a little about WHAT Threads is…
Why Is Threads So Popular?
At the time of recording this, Threads now has a record-breaking 100M users…
And I think that has to do with a few different reasons…
#1 – They made it stupidly easy to sign up for.
Literally, if you have an Instagram account, all you have to do was click a button and you’re instantly in.
Even your entire INSTA bio and picture are copied right over to Threads.
#2 – Instagram has been getting a lot of negative feedback from loyal users of the app.
People are sick and tired of Instagram trying to push video-first content.
Lots of users are frustrated that the “photo-sharing app” they once knew and loved has been overtaken by videos, ads oh and spam bots.
Although it didn’t take long for spammers to flock to Threads. I saw a spam comment within a couple of hours of signing up. Turns out d-bags hang out everywhere.
#3 – Shiny object syndrome.
Hey, we’re all guilty of this – am I right?
And probably one of the top reasons that I think Threads is so popular…
#4 –Right now you can grow your following pretty fast.
Because they made it super easy to connect with the followers you already have on Instagram – which means, unlike most other social media platforms – you don’t have to start building your community from scratch.
When people create their Threads accounts, they are asked if they want to follow the same accounts they follow on Instagram, and most do
That’s the reason our Threads account grew to well over 10k overnight – literally after posting just 2 threads.
And now we’re at about 20K.
What I love about this platform is that it’s made for WRITERS – people who genuinely love to write AND engage with their community…
And content creators who are burnt out from creating video content, say Threads is like a dream come true. I love this quote from @bossbabe…
“Threads has shown people don’t have a content creation problem… they have a this-must-be-perfectly-curated-for-the-asethetic-and-algorithm problem…”
People are loving that the discussions are fostering more CONNECTION and CONVERSATIONS…
And people are sharing thoughts they don’t normally put anywhere else…
I’ll even admit…
Threads Alex is way sassier than YouTube or Instagram Alex LOL…
So basically…
Threads isn’t popular because it’s some brand new awesome innovation…
It’s so popular because….
- It’s easy to use, easy to grow an audience, and easy to cross-share content across all your other social platforms…
- It came at the right time (when a lot of creators are feeling frustrated with IG)…
- And it’s positioned as a COMPLEMENTARY platform – not a replacement or competitor.
Which means people don’t feel like they have to choose “either-or”. No need to swear off Instagram and convert to Threads.
You can have the best of BOTH worlds. And people are loving that.
Ready to see how it works?
How To Use Threads
Here are a few tips for using Threads based on my own experience so far.
- You can post text – up to 500 characters long. But just be warned… you cannot edit a thread after you publish it!
- You can tag creators and repost others posts…
- You can post GIFs and photos.
- Videos up to 5 minutes long.
- It directly links with your Instagram account. So you can easily repost any thread post to your Instagram Story or feed in just 2 taps…
- You can also re-tweet it (which feels funny lol) – or copy a link directly to the post.
Now, here’s what you won’t see on Threads (yet)…
- No ability to “save” photos or videos.
- No ads (yet)
- No DMs
- No bots (yet) – although I did mention those spammy comments.
- No Hashtags
And the big and most controversial limitation right now is you can’t DELETE your threads account.
You can delete individual posts, but to delete your threads account you must delete your entire IG account so yikes… I’m sure Instagram will be changing that in the future.
So that’s HOW it works…
Now WHAT the heck should you be posting on threads?
What To Post On Threads
Well honestly… my biggest advice here is – don’t overthink it.
No reason to overcomplicate things or try to reinvent the wheel.
The main focus of Threads is the written word…
SO WRITE SOMETHING.
The beautiful thing about how new Threads is…
That there isn’t really a “strategy” or “right” or “wrong” way to use it.
Everyone is learning together and I think that’s so awesome.
You can:
- Repurpose content you’ve already posted on other platforms.
- Snippets from your blog post
- Share a random thought you had…
- Ask questions.
- Start a conversation.
- Post a poem you wrote.
- Share a story.
- Share WHATEVER is in your heart.
One of my favorite parts of using Threads so far is that I honestly feel like I’m seeing a whole new side to people that I’ve never seen before…
They’re sharing more authentic thoughts, being more vulnerable, being less “perfectly curated” – AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
This is truly your chance to show up as the most authentic you and share in the way YOU want to – NOT the way the algorithm tells you to…
NOT the way so-so-social media expert tells you to…
BUT HOW YOU WANT TO.
So my number one advice is – to not listen to anyone’s “advice” right now.
Just stay true to yourself and post what feels good to you – and see what happens.
Now, if not having a strategy to follow gives you a bit of anxiety, don’t worry, I got you….
My social media captions cheatsheet that I created for Instagram can still work for Threads too and I have an entire FREE GUIDE that walks you through my whole engagement strategy.
Now one last thing that I would caution you against…
Do not post and ghost!!!
Threads is meant to be a platform for community and engagement – and that’s why people love it so much!
So if you’re not down to have some conversations, then maybe this is not the place for you.
Which brings me to…
The BIG question on your mind?
Should You Be On Threads?
Well… it is experiencing explosive growth right now…
Which creates a great opportunity for you to build up your brand awareness and create an engaged community…
So I think if you’re a writer, a word-loving content creator, or want to have some authentic conversations online – then YES, I think you should give it a try
And while you’re there, make sure to give me a follow @copyposse.
But PLEASE – don’t forget that building an engaged email list should still be your #1 goal!!!
Because if we’ve learned anything from recent years is that social media reach and engagement is not fully in your control! So don’t put all your eggs in the Threads basket – got it?
If you are already on Threads, comment below and let me know what YOU think and I’ll be back next week with a brand new blog.
Until then, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!
