Instagram Threads: Innovating Texts & Conversations
Posted on: July 19, 2023
If you have not heard about Threads, then you have been living under a rock. Built by the team behind Instagram, Threads is the newest social network, whether you are a casual Instagrammer or a full-time content creator. Reaching 100 million users in less than a week, Threads offers a separate space from Instagram for public conversations and real-time updates.
Similar to Instagram, you can follow and connect with your favourite content creators as well as friends, including those whom you follow on Instagram. It is currently available on both Android and iOS devices.
Joining the conversation
It is rather straightforward to join Threads. All you need is your Instagram account. Your Instagram verification and username will be brought over to Threads, with the additional option to customise your profile specifically for Threads.
As a safety feature, everyone 16 years and below (18 for some countries) will have their Threads profile privatised when they join the app. With Threads, you can follow the same accounts that you follow on Instagram or follow like-minded individuals or groups. Your Threads feed will include various posts of people you are following, as well as recommended content from creators you have not discovered yet.
Threads enable you to share your experiences, stories, and thoughts in all sorts of multimedia formats. Your posts can be accompanied by write-ups of up to 500 characters, including videos of up to five minutes long, images, and interesting links.
The sharing capabilities extend even beyond Threads as you can easily share what you have posted on Threads to your Instagram followers via Instagram story or to your platform of choice via links.
Block out unnecessary noise
Productive, positive conversation is the name of the game. Threads is in-built with tools to help you control who can reply or mention you within the app. There is a hidden word list that is similar to Google Ads account-level negative keywords that allows you to include keywords or specific words that you would like to filter out. Additionally, any blocked accounts on Instagram are automatically blocked as well on Threads.
Interoperable networks-compatible
Threads users will also be glad to know that the app will be compatible with ActivityPub. This means that other apps, such as WordPress and Mastodon, that are running the ActivityPub protocol can also be connected to Threads. In the future, as Tumblr has stated its intention to join the ActivityPub protocol, we expect Threads and Tumblr to be interconnected too.
With this interoperable network, the vision is for users within the network to interact with one another without having to create various app accounts. For example, Tumblr users will be able to interact with Threads users even if they do not have a Threads account, and vice versa. The benefits of supporting such open social networking protocols also mean that app developers can have an easier time too. They are able to create and test new features across various apps easily, accelerating the pace of experimentation and innovation.
Conclusion
With the rise of text-based conversation apps and tools, such as Threads and Google Bard AI Chatbot, we are curious to see where else this trend will take us in terms of building real-time communities.
We foresee that Threads will be a quintessential social media marketing tool for digital marketing agencies and brands alike to find out what their audiences are looking for as well as to connect better with them. And if you have not yet joined Threads, it is probably time to do so!
