Ask An Expert: Everything you need to know about Threads

We fully appreciate that even once we post this blog, the landscape may have changed again, such is the pace of ever-evolving technology.

But yes, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has introduced Threads. It’s Meta’s Zucker-punch to Elon Musk and his erratic Twitter takeover.

If you’re not fully up to speed on what’s happening at Twitter, and what has ultimately prompted this new platform’s inception, we’ve blogged all about it here.

So what’s it all about? We’re going to try and wind up Threads – what some have already dubbed the “Twitter Killer” – in a few points:

What is Threads?

Already that sounds so grammatically incorrect it’s making our eyes twitch…

Threads is a free-to-download, freestanding social media platform, but before you go all Brenda from Bristol on us (“Not another one?!”), you don’t necessarily need to start from scratch.

It gets one over on Twitter because if you already have an Instagram account (and therefore already under the Meta banner) you can just plug it in and follow who you already follow on Instagram, but on Threads. Are you with us so far?

According to the developers at Threads, it’s designed to be a space “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”

Basically, it’s ‘a new way to share with text’ – whereas Instagram is mostly about images and Reels, Threads will be Meta’s version of Twitter… but without the hashtags.

Three Friends Taking a Photo with Smartphone

Threads is arguably meant to be a kinder platform for public conversation, focusing on the conversations you want to have

What functionality does Threads have?

Again, this will probably change as soon as we post this blog, but at the moment (July 2023):

You can follow people and people can follow you.
An update is known as a ‘Thread’, and these posts can be 500 characters long.
You can quote a Thread and repost it (like you’d retweet on Twitter).
If you have a blue verified tick on Instagram, it’ll transfer to Threads.
While it’s designed to be more text driven, you can also post videos up to five minutes long and images/links.
An offensive words filter is on as default, but you can also customise it for words/phrases you don’t want to see.

Does Threads use hashtags?

Not at the minute… which has angered many who wanted to make the direct shift from Twitter to Threads. It has been highlighted as a feature that may follow so fingers crossed.

The search function is also limited to names and accounts, not the whole platform. It’s very niche and we’re not sure if this will change – Meta is being very clear that Threads is NOT a new Twitter, but that’s not going to stop the masses who think it should be…

At this very early stage, Twitter and Threads do slightly different jobs. Threads is arguably meant to be a kinder platform for public conversation, focusing on the conversations you want to have, rather than what the platform has chosen for you.

Take a look at how to use Instagram Threads

How popular is Threads compared to Twitter?

Reports have shown that Threads has hit the 100 million users milestone in a week, making it the fastest-growing app ever.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT previously held that record, but by comparison, it took two months to reach 100 million users. Meanwhile, Twitter’s current user total is more like 436 million.

“Meta’s release of Threads came at the perfect time to give it a fighting chance to unseat Twitter,” said Niklas Myhr, professor of marketing at Chapman University, referring to the turmoil at Twitter after it limited the number of tweets users can see to 600 per day.

But we’d argue there’s a long way for Meta to go yet – they may have parked up on Twitter’s turf with Threads, but there’s plenty of time for Twitter to send out the monster trucks.