This is an update to a post that originally went live June 1.
The worst-kept secret in social media became a reality with Instagram’s July 5 release of Twitter clone app Threads, and more than 30 million users signed up by the morning of July 6, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Open Influence established its presence on day one, and at the time of this update, it tallied roughly 800 followers. Please scan the QR code below and join us!
The company wrote in a blog post announcing the app’s debut, “Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests—including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.”
One advantage that Threads has over fellow Twitter competitors Bluesky Social, Hive Social, Mastodon, Post, and T2 is that while it is a stand-alone app, it was built off the Instagram platform, making onboarding for users and eventual advertising by brands a simple process.
And rather than starting from scratch, Threads can tap Instagram’s 2.35 billion monthly active users.
However, the new app’s links to Instagram and parent company Meta can be a disadvantage, as well, as privacy concerns prevented its launch in the European Union.
The Basics
An Instagram account is necessary to sign up for Threads, and logging into the app lets people automatically import their Instagram handle, biography, profile picture, and followers from Instagram. The latter is accomplished via an auto-follow button, making it easy for people to maintain their connections with other users, as well as brands.
Posts—or shall we call them Threads?—can be up to 500 characters long and support up to 10 media items, including links, photos and videos of up to five minutes. Those posts can be shared to Instagram Stories or as links on other social platforms.
The app’s feed is made up of posts from accounts a user follows, as well as recommended content from brands and creators, and head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explained in a response to a user, “We do rank posts lightly and show recommendations (posts from accounts you don’t follow) in the feed, which is particularly important for a new app before people follow enough accounts.”
What’s Missing?
Threads rolled out without an option to switch to a feed populated solely with content from accounts a person follows, although Mosseri said in a response to a user that it was “on the list.”
The app currently does not support GIFs, inline translation, user-generated alt text for images, or hashtags.
There is no way to edit a post, and while content can be viewed on the web, there is no web interface enabling people to do anything besides view posts.
Mosseri said editing posts is in the pipeline, as is the ability to toggle between accounts.
Show Me the Money
Following the Facebook/Meta tradition, Threads launched without any monetization options or advertising of any kind, but since the app is based on the Instagram platform, their eventual addition should be easy on the technical side.
And rather than having to woo brands from scratch, Instagram can leverage its existing partnerships and relationships and convince those companies to add Threads to their marketing mix, perhaps instead of Twitter.
Brands On Board Early
Despite the absence of monetization plays, several brands large and small have already hopped aboard the Threads bandwagon, with social media stalwart Wendy’s having served up more than 40 posts at the time of this update.
While not every brand will be as prolific as Wendy’s, there are different ways to approach the new app.
Some may opt to extend their existing Twitter strategy to Threads, keeping their voice consistent across platforms and not forcing content that doesn’t quite fit on the brand-new app yet.
Others may fire away and post the same types of content they currently share on other platforms, including Instagram, under the assumption that since their followers came from Instagram, they already know what to expect.
Open Influence senior creative director Sierra Moore shared an idea for brands: Rather than going with the same memes and videos that currently populate Instagram, use Threads to drive people to other platforms, such as by asking a question and linking to an Instagram video with the answers, or using Threads to introduce a contest and sending people to another platform to enter.
Behind-the-scenes looks and sneak peeks could also be part of the Threads mix.
What’s Next?
Instagram said other updates it is working on include improving recommendations in its feed and making the app’s search functionality more robust to help people more easily discover creators they may be interested in.
And on the interoperability front, the company wrote in a blog post, “Soon, we are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web. This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress—allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.”
Our original blog post from June 1, prior to the official release of Threads, follows below:
The only real surprise was that it took this long: Meta is testing a Twitter clone app under the Instagram umbrella with plans to potentially roll it out in late June.
The app—code-named P92, Project 92, or Barcelona—has been in testing with high-profile users including actors, athletes, comedians, producers, and showrunners, but according to one member of the test group, no one has access to the full version.
Meta confirmed the test, saying in a statement, “We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”
Chief marketing officer, creator economy advisor, and educator Lia Haberman shared a screenshot of the app, which appears to be virtually identical to Twitter, and the similarities were not lost on new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who retweeted a TechCrunch story about the new app and wrote, “Game on!”
Lia Haberman
Twitter has been in turmoil since Elon Musk took over the company late last October, with advertisers leaving the platform in droves due to issues including major cutbacks in content moderation.
While apps including Bluesky Social, Hive Social, Mastodon, Post, and T2 have emerged as potential alternatives, none has amassed any sort of significant user base.
There were no details available about monetization options in the new app, which may mean that brands and creators who decide to test the waters when it launches more widely will have to start out with an organic approach. Value-added posts tied to existing campaigns on other platforms may be the most logical entry point for creators, as content that has already been crafted can easily be repurposed.
Throughout its history as Facebook and Meta, Instagram’s parent company has followed a pattern of giving new apps and features time to gain traction and establish a toehold before incorporating advertising into the mix, but that timetable may be accelerated if the new app quickly builds a strong user base, as Instagram’s existing ads infrastructure could easily be integrated.
One of the creators who met with Meta about the app shared the following details with Haberman:
- While the new app is built on the back of Instagram, it is decentralized and, therefore, compatible with some other platforms, such as Mastodon, meaning that users of those other apps will be able to follow, interact with and search for content and profiles from users of the new app.
- People will access the new app via a single sign-on with their Instagram username and password, at which point they can sync with their Instagram followers (who will receive notifications giving them the option to do so). Their bio, handle, and verification (if applicable) will carry over from Instagram to the new app.
- A centralized feed containing content from followers and recommended content is the core of the app, and that content can include up to 500 characters of text, joined by links, photos, and videos of up to five minutes in length. Engagement options include likes, replies, and reposts.
- Creators will be able to control mentions and replies, as well as easily block people or report spam.
- Accounts that people have blocked on Instagram will carry over to the new app, as will hidden words. Instagram’s community guidelines will be enforced, and two-factor authentication will be enabled.
If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, Meta has it down to a science, having engaged in the practice since its Facebook days.
Its two most notable successes on that front were: adapting the Stories format popularized by Snapchat and making it a key component of Instagram, later adding it across its family of apps (Facebook, Messenger, and even WhatsApp); and rolling out short-form videos as Reels on Instagram and, eventually, Facebook, piggybacking on the success of Vine (which Twitter acquired and curiously killed off) and TikTok.
Will the yet-to-be-named new app from Instagram follow in the footsteps of Stories and Reels, or will it fail like unsuccessful attempts to clone Cameo, Nextdoor, Pinterest, and TikTok? Only time will tell. But brands and creators should keep tabs on its progress and act accordingly.
Open Influence’s team stays on top of the trends and is here to make sure you make the most of your creator marketing campaigns. Open Influence is a global creator marketing agency dedicated to creating compelling campaigns that utilize all the latest features. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us today!
