Everything you need to know about Threads

You’ve probably heard that a new player has emerged in the social media realm, fresh from the ruined landscape of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover… Say hello to Threads: Mark Zuckerberg’s answer to Twitter.

Having already surpassed 100m users in the first few days of its release (smashing ChatGPT’s recent record), Threads has proved to be an early hit, having climbed to a whopping 70 million users in just a few short days of its early July release. The app is now available in more than 100 countries worldwide and is poised to capitalise on those who have fell out of love with Twitter.

In this blog, we will explore what Threads is all about, what makes it different and why it might be worth embracing!

What is Threads?

Threads is a text-based conversation app that’s designed to be a space ‘where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about’. Built by the Instagram team, Threads is for sharing text updates and joining public conversations, much like Twitter.

How do I download Threads?

Threads is an app that’s separate from the Instagram app. To find it, go to your app store on your Apple or Android device and search for ‘Threads, an Instagram app’. From here, you can log in with your Instagram credentials.

How to navigate Threads

If you’ve ever used Twitter, you’ll most likely find that Threads is quite intuitive. The House icon takes you to your feed, the magnifying glass is for searching, the pen and paper icon is to create a new thread, the heart icon shows your activity, and lastly, the human figure icon takes you to your Threads profile.

What’s the difference between Twitter and Threads?

Whilst Threads is alleged to be Mark Zuckerberg’s answer to Twitter, there are a few differences between the two. Let’s take a quick look:

1. Bigger character limit: Threads has a character limit of 500, whilst over on Twitter, the limit is just 280.
2. Messaging: Threads does not have in-app messaging like Twitter. Users can share a Thread with someone via text, but there’s currently no in-app option, apart from tagging them in the comment section of a post.
3. Content discovery: Content discovery on Threads and Twitter is vastly different. On Twitter, users appear to have a little more control over what content is presented to them. However, on Threads, there’s a singular feed that pulls in a blend of content from the accounts that you follow, as well as trending posts – not too dissimilar to Instagram’s Discover page.
4. Instagram Account: In order to sign up to Threads, users need to have an Instagram account. No Instagram account = no Threads! Twitter has no such requirement.
5. Usernames: Your account username on Threads is linked to your Instagram account, so you can’t change your Threads username unless you change your Instagram username too. Not a big deal to many, but worth noting!

Should my business join Threads?

A lot remains to be seen about how Threads could work for businesses, particularly as the dust hasn’t yet settled since its launch a few weeks ago. Many marketing experts are currently studying the landscape of Threads to see how it could work for businesses, so it’s still up for debate as to whether it could work effectively. It’s important to note, however, that much like its rival Twitter, Threads is unique social network that doesn’t work for every business.

Here at Peppermint, we’ll be watching Threads grow and develop with a keen eye. Once the dust has settled, we can take a much better look at this trailblazing social network and find out more about how we can help Threads work for your business!