TLDR; Yes, but there is a long way to go
Meta Threads or Threads by Meta, whichever you prefer….
…. And I’m guessing, neither of those if you’re called Elon Musk.
Since Musk spaffed $44bn up the wall on buying Twitter in October ‘22, it’s been nothing but a bun fight on the little blue bird website. Needless to say, Zuckerberg has been eyeing up the Twitter space for some time, there have been many false starts, but now Threads by Meta seems the real deal.
“Twitter is in crisis and Meta needs its mojo back,”
one Meta employee wrote in a post.
“LET’S GO FOR THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER.”
Threads new user base
However, and it’s a big one – do users have the time for another platform?
I was an early adopter of Instagram, not because being a chef at the time and had a ready supply of material for the app, but because it was the most stable and easiest way to share images on Twitter.
This cross-platforming is probably going to be the key to Threads.
As much as Threads was launched as “An Instagram app” there is a feeling of familiarity in comparison to Twitter, so it’s hard to see where the downside is.
And here it is. Initial uptake for Threads was huge – it has surpassed 150m downloads, in less than a week. For context, the previous record holder for 150m downloads was Pokémon Go, which took a leisurely 33 days.
Yes, they are displaying some significant user data, but it’s on the wane. Initially, users would log in for 20 minutes at a time, and that’s now halved.
Cross-platforming will be key
Stealing Twitter/Musk’s thunder isn’t going to be enough; innovation and cross-platforming are going to be two ways, along with the draw of social media ‘big names’ – so far only one in the top ten of Twitter’s biggest users has opened an account, and only nine in the top twenty.
So, let’s kill two birds with one stone. Meta has said that Threads will be:
“Compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web.”
And continued with:
“This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress – allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today.”
And there you have it.
Facebook & Meta have updates coming which means users can be more efficient with their posting time.
For example; for a long time, there was no stable and officially sanctioned way to post images to Instagram from a computer. Then along came Meta Business Suite, not only could you post to your Facebook business page but also Instagram at the same time – Work smarter, not harder.
And, Mr Zuckerberg, if you’re reading this – Yes please, add Threads to the Meta Business Suite please – TIA.
The ActivityPub use is a big step forward.
With the likes of WordPress being onboard, there’s already a huge base to expand on – WP powers nearly one in every two websites on the net (including this one). So, open-source compatibility is key to this – make it easy & intuitive (ironically, Apple have been masters of the intuitive UI for decades) for users.
Is Threads worth it?
Yes, I’d say so.
Other than the mild irritation of whose post you get to see initially, Meta chooses and adds them to those who you already follow elsewhere – I seem to get an awful lot of Stephen Bartlett currently.
But don’t take my word for it, download it for yourself and take a tour, because ultimately social media is one of the best ways of communicating your personality and drive traffic to your business website.
Top Social Media Tip: Log in and claim your user handle anyway, it’ll help your potential customers & fans find you easier.
Note we’re on most of the social media platforms as @WeAreQED
The end of Twitter?
As for Twitter, it’s dying a slow painful death and has all the likeability of an eggy fart in a spacesuit. But hey, that’s what Musk wants – freedom of speech, unfortunately, those with the most to say usually have the depth of a puddle.
If the two platforms were to launch simultaneously now, then Twitter would be dead in the water. Musk has tried to trim costs, but the loan gearing he used to buy the little blue bird is too high and advertisers are either leaving or reducing spend.
See you on whatever social media platform you choose soon.
