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Look, nobody really wants to join a new social media platform. But we do need a place where we can reach supporters, share content, and look at pictures of other people’s dogs — preferably without being subjected to harassment, trolling, misinformation, and attacks on our democracy.
So the search continues. Maybe you dipped your toes in with Hive or Spoutible, but didn’t find enough engagement. Maybe you (or your audiences) are still waiting on an invitation to Bluesky. Now here comes a promising new option: Threads, the latest app from Meta.
It’s too soon to say whether this will be the Twitter replacement we deserve, but I’m here to tell you to give it a shot, and help you get started.
Here’s what we like about Threads:
- Easy, captive audience. If you have an Instagram presence, you can quickly build your Threads audience based on your IG following.
- We’re not trying to migrate to a new platform. This is an extension of Instagram!
- It’s very, very similar to Twitter in its functionality and UI.
- It offers a solution for campaigns and orgs looking to post links and focus on rapid response and breaking news.
- We know from our media advocacy campaigns that Twitter offered a public gathering place for journalists, thought leaders, and influencers to exchange ideas and comment on the news cycle. We think Threads can fill that gap.
Posts can be up to 500 characters, and they can include links, photos, or videos up to 5 minutes long.
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in November 2022, we’ve seen so many platforms come and go as potential alternatives. But we think Threads has staying power. Threads has a built-in audience and simple integration with Instagram. With Instagram’s 2 billion active users, it sets up Threads to succeed in a way those other platforms couldn’t. (As of this writing, Threads has surpassed 30 million sign-ups in less than 24 hours. By comparison, Twitter has 400 million users…amassed over 15 years.)
Our recommendation:
- If your org or campaign has been struggling with the question of “What to do about Twitter,” it makes a lot of sense to try out Threads.
- Download the app, log in using your Instagram account (this is required), and create a Threads handle. For consistency, we recommend keeping it the same as your Instagram handle. If you don’t have an Instagram account, now could be a good time to get started.
- Take it for a test drive.
- Post what you’d normally share on Twitter: A witty quip, a photo or video from an action, a link to your op-ed, or a meme about being the first to the party.
- Use those handy features to quickly follow the accounts you already follow on Instagram. Look for others like partners and allies. Find some of the accounts you follow on Twitter but never got around to following on Instagram.
- Let your IG followers know you’re on Threads. You can share it to your Story to encourage more of your followers to join you on Threads.
- Let your Twitter followers know you’re on Threads.
- Engage! Add to the conversation by sharing and replying to others.
- Celebrate that we can hang out somewhere that isn’t Elon Musk’s right-wing propaganda machine.
- If you’re not ready to post and be active, at least grab the handle. You can stay private.
If you’re looking for examples of Threads in action, check out some campaigns and orgs that are near and dear to our hearts: Fight For 15, National Center for Lesbian Rights, International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Campaign, PETA, Starbucks Workers United, and SEIU.
Hesitations, for good measure
Of course, it’s still a Meta app – which means Mark Zuckerberg controls Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. We continue to have concerns about Zuckerberg’s commitments to privacy and misinformation. And still, it’s a better alternative to Twitter, which has become increasingly dangerous for marginalized folks, where Musk has made no attempt to hide his biases and promote hateful rhetoric.
Understandably, we have heard concerns about over indexing on Meta products and what that means for privacy. Meta announced that Threads would soon become “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.” We recommend reading through the “Compatible with Interoperable Networks” section of Instagram’s announcement to learn more about what this decentralized structure means for privacy and user control.
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Alex is a Vice President, Social Media at M+R, specializing in campaign strategy that integrates social content, earned media, and influencer activations to mobilize audiences and shift narratives. Outside of work, Alex spends time backpacking, eating ice cream, and going to the beach. You can reach Alex at ahudson@mrss.com.