Threads…Twitter killer or just another social fad?
By Ben Risinger
Communications Director
Threads from Meta is here and in the wildest way…on a Thursday of the 4th of July holiday week, a day earlier than expected. The platform has blasted off with people and brands alike threading all over the world. On day one, more than 7 million people signed up to see what the hype is all about.
Today, the number has set records with 100 million users signing up in only five days (The Independent).
And to be honest, I totally geeked. To me, Threads feels like a pre-2013 Twitter when it used to be a much more open, honest, free and different platform than it is today.
Here are my top 5 points as to why I believe this could spell out the end of the long-standing and OG text-based social media platform. Peace out Twitter. ✌️
500 Characters for a post
140 characters to 280 was the Twitter way. Threads app lets you post 500 character “threads”. Still short but long enough to really make a point on a post.
No more doomscrolling
You don’t have long, scrolling posts like Twitter. A thread, or main post, can start the conversation with other threads, and essentially, a reply creates another full conversation off of the main thread showing a clear hierarchy of replies. I like this much more than just one long doom scroll, haven’t we all seen (1/45) on a Twitter post. Way too long.
Connect with new friends
Another area where Threads shines is in Community building. You don’t get lost in a long tweet stream, you can have several conversations off of the same OG thread. Threads wants people to connect, make it a more fluid conversation and meet others with similar interests (I love the geek/fanboy threads already). By giving users a deeper connection and inclusive environment, Threads brings better collaboration, fosters deeper connections and allows users to see/view more perspectives than before.
Easier to report inappropriate content
People feel safe, more at ease and want to talk. Content moderation is much easier with users/threaders being able to report and flag any comment if it is inappropriate (the user experience mimics Instagram). This approach gives users a more welcoming experience to chat, be themselves and engage with new people. We all know that Twitter does not have enough people to monitor conversations, especially after the large exit of personnel we saw in recent months.
Bring on the web videos
You can upload FIVE MINUTES of web video content. You can only upload two minutes and twenty seconds of video to Twitter with the free version. Twitter Blue allows you to upload up to two hours, but I don’t see anyone using this feature or anyone watching long videos.
The Future
Is Threads the next generation of short, quick conversations? Possibly. But, I’ve been wrong before and thought Google+ was going to be the next revolution. In full disclosure, I was a big fan of Periscope and Foursquare too. As people seek the next great, safe and conversational platform to not deal with the fallout of Elon Musk taking over Twitter, this could be it.
