Instagram’s “Twitter Killer” app is the talk of the town. If you’ve just return from vacation, it’s time to catch up with the latest news from Meta’s world: Threads.
Threads is Twitter’s new social media enemy, as you can tell from its nickname, based entirely on text contents and allowing its users to start structured conversations on specific topics. Surprisingly, after launching on July 5th, 2023, the platform reached 100 million users in just 5 days, making it the fastest-growing app ever, even if the active user community dropped to 10 million after just one month. (Source)
Although it’s not available in Italy (yet), we want to tell you everything we know about the new social media star!
- What is Threads
- How to open a profile on Threads
- Threads life
- Threads vs. Twitter
- The ActivityPub protocol and the fediverse
What is Threads
Threads is a new social network built by the Instagram team that offer users a completely different experience from Meta’s other products: it shows up as a feed populated with text content, just like Twitter, combined with links, photos and videos up to 5 minutes long with which users can interact by liking, commenting, reposting or sharing the post.
The idea behind this new social is to recreate the Instagram community, able to collect millions of users, in a place where conversations and discussion prevails, with the goal of “creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas”.
EXTRA TIP: You don’t know what we’re talking about? You can start from Threads dictionary!
How to open a profile on Threads
There’s never been a smoother registration: to enter Threads, simply log in with your Instagram account. Not only will your username and verification badge be imported, but you will also be able to choose whether to follow the same accounts you already follow on Instagram and whether to import your bio or just write a new one. Obviously, the platform will feature some dedicated functions, such as the default private profile for users under 16 years.
Threads Life
Threads’ strength compared to its main competitor is the fact that the user has the opportunity and the space to start a complete and structured conversation: indeed, with 500 characters available, the user will not have to worry about limiting concepts to short, stringy sentences that would shrink the content to a rough and incomplete meaning, but will give the opportunity to express one’s thoughts fully with the goal of opening doors to dialogue with other users. And, with this in mind, the platform will give the chance to translate threads written in a different language, to get rid of cultural barriers and promote the exchange of ideas.
One aspect that shouldn’t be underestimated is definitely the relationship that the platform has with Instagram: each thread can be easily shared outside the platform, on Instagram stories, or with other users via DMs. Furthermore, your own account can be linked in the Instagram bio, making it easier for followers to find it.
The feed also echoes Instagram’s structure, offering two different views: in the “For you” feed you can see a mix of posts published by both already-followed profiles and users recommended by the platform based on previous interactions, while the “Following” feed will show only those shared by followed profiles.
But we know that the news will not be over: Meta has announced that it will continue to listen to feedback from its users and implement new features that will improve the experience on Threads.
You can refer to Meta’s Help Center to make sure you don’t miss any updates.
Threads vs. Twitter
What we are all wondering is surely what are the big differences between Threads and Twitter, so here’s the answer:
- As previously mentioned, Twitter has a maximum limit of 280 characters, while Threads has extended the limit to 500 characters.
- Videos uploaded on Twitter can be a maximum 2 minutes 20, on Threads videos can be up to 5 minutes long.
- The Twitter verification badge is a fee-paying service, Threads grants it to all users who already have a verified profile on Instagram.
- A few days before Threads launched, Twitter imposed a cap of 600 on the number of posts a user can read per day. Threads instead allows unlimited reading.
- Twitter allows hashtags, direct messages and a trending topics section; Threads currently doesn’t have these features but Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, informed with a thread that the team is working to implement all the basic features that are currently missing, and have already put keywords search and the ability to edit the thread into testing.
- Twitter shows a chronological timeline of content (so starting with the latest), while Threads, like its siblings Instagram and Facebook, take advantage of the algorithm to create a timeline based on what might be most interesting to the user and creating, as mentioned above, a mix of content even from unfollowed profile.
- Lastly, Threads currently doesn’t feature advertisements, unlike Twitter. But it’s just a matter of time: based on what Zuckerberg announced, we already know that once the platform will be operating at full speed, monetization will also be introduced.
EXTRA TIP: Okay, now you are ready to tackle the new social but…inspiration is missing? Take a look at the post generator provided by Hootsuite.
The ActivityPub Protocol and the Fediverse
One of the real advancements that Threads will bring, however, is the plan to make the platform compatible with ActivityPub, the social network protocol created by W3C. This would make it the first Meta app to enter the fediverse, a set of social networks that, even if managed separately, can communicate with each other, which consequently will lead it to be interoperable with all other apps that in turn support the protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress.
What does it mean in simple terms? It means that Threads, by joining the fediverse, will enable types of connections and actions that on most social networks will be unthinkable: for example it will give users the ability to quit Threads by transferring their content to another protocol service, so that they don’t lose it, or to interact with accounts that doesn’t belong to the Threads world and, vice versa. This will allow external users to view and interact with content on the platform and even to become a follower despite not having an account, thus allowing creators to reach new people who would otherwise have required a different editorial and operational strategy.
But the fediverse goes far beyond the benefits that accounts would gain from it. It’s about to enter a new era of communication, made up of different but interconnected nets, in which developers could create new features and experiences and integrate and share them with other social networks in the protocol, making platform innovation much smarter and faster.
Meta itself believes that “this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms.”
So all we can do is wait for the launch of Threads in Italy as well, eager to know personally the platform and to attend the technological developments that will, perhaps one day, be the key player of the social networks of the future.
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