“Social media is the ultimate equaliser. It gives a voice and a platform to anyone willing to engage.” — Amy Jo Martin
It’s another new day, which means there’s another new update from the once popular, now everchanging social platform Twitter, now known as X. Since tech billionaire Elon Musk acquired the site in October 2022, Twitter has consistently been in the news, but not necessarily for all the good they are doing. Musk has made it his mission to change the platform to be more conducive to his ideologies. Whether it’s changing the logo to a dog, helping candidates launch presidential campaigns, or causing a riot over the blue checkmark, Twitter has been less than accommodating the last 10 months. Enter Meta.
Meta, the home to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more, launched the newest addition to its arsenal on July 5, 2023, and it is a direct competitor of Twitter. One could argue that all social media sites are competitors with each other in one way or another, but in this instance, Mark Zuckerburg, and his team at Meta, have launched an app that uses the uniqueness of Instagram and coupled it with the conversational style of Twitter, thus giving way to what they’ve deemed, Threads.
According to Meta, Threads is “a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations” (Meta, 2023). Much like Instagram, you can follow different accounts that you are interested in, and interact with them on the platform. Not only will you see content directly from those you follow, but you will see content from suggested pages as well, giving you more opportunities to connect with people and start conversations.
The Threads app was created as a way to bring the conversational style of social media back. Twitter has been around since 2006, and people have really come to rely on social media platforms where they can start conversations, vent about their feelings, or simply tweet about The Bachelor. With Twitter in a constant state of disarray, people are yearning for that style of platform more and more, and Meta anticipated that desire and delivered with Threads. Their goal is to be a tool that enables positive and productive conversations, and that’s exactly what people are wanting right now.
Threads has only been out for a little over a month, and the traction it has gotten and the positive feedback it has received is a direct result of people’s desire for a platform where they can have those conversations. With a platform like Threads, the possibilities are endless for your business. You can ask your consumers direct questions, and get their responses right there, or you can have fun with it! Show your personality by picking off the wall topics and having your followers interact with each other and yourself, and really use this platform for what it’s meant for: positivity.
Although it can feel like social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, all it takes is the wrong person acquiring the wrong business at the wrong time for things to go under. Twitter is a prime example of that, and because of their naivete, Meta is capitalizing in a huge way. Threads is a fun new platform that would work great for any business. So go ahead and get to threading!